Karate Joe: Difference between revisions

{{Nihongo|'''Karate Joe'''|カラテ家|Karateka}} is the first character to appear in the [[Rhythm Heaven Series]] in a [[Rhythm Game]], and one of the few characters to appear in every game since ''[[Rhythm Tengoku]]''. He is successing his [[father]] in karate.

Karate Joe is characterized by his pale white skin, big nose, and balding head. He wears a black belt karate suit that matches the color of his skin. He wears no shoes. He is described as very expressive and fearless. He is often shown eating a lot of food between training sessions, a trait he seems to share with his father.

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."<ref>https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n08/brij/chara/stage01.html</ref>

Karate Joe has dreamed of being a soccer player even since he was a child, but his [[Father]] wanted him to master karate instead, and told him that he can't leave his house until he masters it. Even at 55<ref>"Résultat : à 55 ans, je vis toujours au sous-sol..." (The result: At 55, I still live in the basement...) ~ [[Rhythm Item]] description for [[Karate Man (3DS)|Karatéka]], ''Rhythm Paradise Megamix''</ref>, Karate Joe still lives in the basement. His [[Father]] also stole the ball that Joe had bought and used it as a punching bag<ref>"せっかく買ったボールは、取り上げられて、今やサンドバッグ代わりになっている。" (The ball I bought was stolen, and is now being used as a punching bag.) ~ [[Rhythm Item]] description for [[Karate Man (3DS)|Karate Man]], ''Rhythm Tengoku: The Best Plus''</ref>. [[Father]] is a master at karate, but not cooking. Occasionally he makes dinner anyway, such as one day when Karate Joe's mother was out of the house<ref>"母さんが外出した日に、一度だけ食べた父さんのナベ。" (Father's curry, which I only ate once on the day my mother went out.) ~ [[Rhythm Item]] description for [[Karate Man Returns!]], ''Rhythm Tengoku: The Best Plus''</ref>, and asks his son if he likes it. Joe has to lie and say that he likes it to make him feel good. [[Father]] got his son bombs to make him face his fears. At first, Joe thought they were fake, but then one exploded. He still vividly remembers his Father's face as he said "Are you surprised?"<ref>"「おどろいただろ？」という父さんの顔、今でもおぼえてる。" ("Are you surprised?" I still remember my father's face.) ~ [[Rhythm Item]] description for [[Karate Man Kicks!]], ''Rhythm Tengoku: The Best Plus''</ref> Karate Joe has no idea where his father got them from. [[Father]] keeps a bunch of barrels around, but Joe has no idea why. He asked multiple times, but was told that he can only know when he is stronger than his father. Karate Joe envies his Father's incredible vision that allows him to quickly tell the color of a light bulb and counter it. Joe also sees this as an explanation for how his Father can easily counter his attacks.<ref>"だから、オレのこうげきだって、カンタンにふせぐのさ。" (That's why it's so easy for him to counter my attacks, too.) ~ [[Rhythm Item]] description for [[Karate Man Senior]], ''Rhythm Tengoku: The Best Plus''</ref>

In ''[[Rhythm Tengoku]]'', he appears in the first [[Rhythm Game]]. 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 (GBA)|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. 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 the [[Rhythm Tengoku (Arcade)|arcade]] version of the game, with the same appearances, in addition to [[Karateka Tempo Up!|Karateka]] [[File:TempoUpExtra1.png|72px]], 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.

Karate Joe reappears in ''[[Rhythm Heaven]]'', in the last [[Rhythm Game]] before the [[Airboarder|Credits]]. In [[Remix 6 (DS)|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 (DS)|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 (Characters)|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 (Characters)|Rockers]] perform on stage.

In ''[[Rhythm Heaven Fever]]'', he is once again in the last [[Rhythm Game]] before the [[Night Walk (Wii)|Credits]]. In [[Remix 7 (Wii)|Remix 7]], he wears black shades while punching stuff in space. At one point he lies down and watches TV, which coincidentally shows [[Karate Man Returns!|Karateka]] from ''[[Rhythm Tengoku]]'' itself. In [[Remix 9 (Wii)|Remix 9]] he is accompanied by a cat<ref>"cat" ~ texture filename</ref>. In [[Karate Man 2 (Wii)|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 [[Karate Man Combos!#Two Player|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.

*Karate Joe has appeared as a playable character in every game in the series.

*Some details in the [[[[Rhythm Item]]]]s are omitted in some regions, like the detail about Karate Joe still living in his basement is omitted in the original Japanese and Korean versions, while the French version adds the detail that he is 55 years old and still living in the basement. Other details include Karate Joe mentioning his mother, who was out one day and so his father tried cooking, and that Karate Joe 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.<ref>"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.)" ~ [[Rhythm Item]] description for [[Karate Man Combos!]], ''Rhythm Tengoku: The Best Plus''</ref>

*Karate Joe makes a minor appearance as a trophy in ''[[Super Smash Bros.|Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'' and a spirit in ''[[Super Smash Bros.|Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''. His spirit battle takes place on the Suzaku Castle stage in Omega form while he is represented by a white Ryu, favoring powered-up smash attacks.

*He also made a cameo during a Young Cricket and Master Mantis preview for ''WarioWare Gold''.