A lore and character analysis of Joseph Desaulniers
Word Count: 13k
This essay is intended to provide a more in-depth look into Joseph's lore and character. The analysis will mostly view his backstory through a historical context while providing additional commentary along the way. Official non canon media such as the official character tweet replies will be used as evidence, however, only when explicitly aligned with canon. To begin, I will go over the sources the developers based Joseph's character off, both from a lore perspective and design one. We'll first address the sources used for his lore and then discuss his character design. From there we'll go in chronological order of events in his lore. Here's a quick recap of Joseph's backstory for those who've either never read it or need a refresher, otherwise feel free to skip it.
Joseph Desaulniers was born into a wealthy French aristocratic family alongside his twin brother, Claude. Both lived happily until they were forced to leave France as a result of the French Revolution. However, mid-voyage, Claude got sick and died. Joseph was never able to emotionally recover from Claude's death which led to him trying to find a way to preserve life, with the hopes of bringing Claude back in the end. One day, he journeyed someplace far away and returned with mysterious books. After his journey, he became fully absorbed in his experiments and eventually succeeded in capturing souls within photographs. He tried to tell his friends about his discoveries but they either took offense to his experiments or assumed that he was joking. As the years went by, he grew older and refined his techniques, which lead to even more disappearances. The townspeople eventually realize this and storm his manor, only to find him gone.
Lore and its Inspirations
When creating the character, the developers took inspiration from many sources. Two of the more prominent sources being the life of French inventor, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and the gothic literature novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Later in the analysis the influence these had on Joseph's lore will become clearer. I will briefly summarize both as to provide context. This will also make it much easier to understand and draw parallels between the works later on.Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was a French inventor who is considered to have invented photography. He had three siblings, one of whom was an older brother named Claude. He was born in 1765 into a wealthy family, with his father being a high ranking lawyer. From a young age, he had a passion for physics and chemistry which he studied in the Oratorian College in Angers. During the French revolution, he and his family were forced to leave France due to suspicion of being royalist sympathizers. He later returned in 1791 to serve as a French military officer in the south of France, but had to resign in 1794 due to contracting typhoid fever. After this, he went to live in Nice in southern France alongside Claude. Here, both the brothers begin to work on their first inventions together. Claude later leaves again in 1816 with hopes of bringing awareness to their inventions. In his absence, Joseph begins to take an interest in the camera obscura. By 1827, the first permanent photo was created and called "Point de vue du Gras". That same year, he went to visit Claude in London who had since then had descended into delirium, squandering most of the family fortune in business ventures for their inventions. Being left with no money yet still wanting to continue with his invention, Joseph entered a partnership in 1829 with Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, a camera obscura expert whom he had worked with previously and the namesake of the daguerreotype. Four years later on July 5th of 1833, Joseph passed away from a stroke.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel by Oscar Wilde. The titular character inadvertently sells his soul so a portrait of him ages instead of him. The plot is as follows: An artist named Basil Hallward meets a beautiful young man named Dorian Gray whom he quickly becomes obsessed with. He has him pose for multiple paintings and he becomes the artist's muse. One day, Basil's hedonistic friend, Lord Henry Wotton sees a painting he's working on and asks to meet the model. Basil hesitantly agrees on the condition that he won't try to influence Dorian. They both meet and Henry immediately begins to preach about hedonism and how everyone should give into their desires. He later takes Dorian to a garden, where he praises his youth and beauty. He tells him that these are a man's most valuable assets and that he should take full advantage of them before they fade. These words prove to be quite impactful to Dorian, and once the painting is finished, he grows jealous of it. Why should the painting remain permanently young while he ages? In a fit of distress he vows that he'd be willing to give his soul so that the painting could age instead of him. After hearing this, Basil goes to destroy the painting but is stopped and later gifts it to Dorian after he assures Basil that he actually loves it. Dorian and Henry continue their correspondence with Dorian slowly becoming fascinated with hedonism. After a while, Dorian falls in love with a talented actress named Sibyl Vane. However this relationship is short lived as he decides to cruelly break up with her after proposing marriage. He returns home to find that the painting has changed to reflect his cruelty. This makes him realize that not only did his wish come true, but the painting also reflects his sins. He decides to apologize to Sibyl only to be informed by Henry that, in her distress, she had committed suicide. He is distraught at what he did but Henry tells him to consider her death as an artistic tragedy, saying he should move on. Dorian obliges and decides to hide the portrait in the attic so as to not let his secret be revealed. Later that day, Henry decides to give Dorian a French book about hedonism referred to as "the yellow book", believed to be À rebours by Joris-Karl Huysmans. Dorian is so enamored with this book that he dedicates the next couple of years of his life into seeking sensual pleasures. This causes rumors to spread, many claiming that those he engages with have had their lives ruined. However despite this, he isn't shunned or cast out of high society. On the contrary, his beautiful and youthful looks makes him quite popular with both men and women alike. Basil confronts him about these rumors and Dorian makes no attempt at denying it, showing Basil the painting which has now grown hideous. Basil begs him to repent but Dorian grows furious and murders him. He calls one of his estranged friends, blackmailing him into disposing of the body. However Dorian begins to feel guilty about the murder so he goes into an opium den where he encounters James Vane, Sibyl Vane's brother who wants to kill him to avenge her. However he fails after Dorian tricks him into believing that he's too young to have known Sibyl and he's let go. After learning he's been tricked however, he begins stalking Dorian, but dies shortly after being accidentally shot during a hunting party. After this Dorian attempts to turn his life around but when he performs a single good deed, he finds that the painting hasn't changed. In a fit of anger, he decides to stab the painting. The servants hear a loud crash and go to investigate, only to find a decrepit old man lying next to an unharmed painting of a beautiful young man.
Character Design
When creating Joseph's design, the developers expressed that they intended for him to be one of the more attractive hunters (alongside Michiko). This makes sense as appearance is an important aspect of Joseph's backstory, which will be observed later in the analysis. The designers mention wanting him to look like a bishōnen, a Japanese term meaning "beautiful youth". In addition to being a young beautiful man, a bishōnen also tends to be androgenous. Two movies are specified as sources of inspiration: Interview with the Vampire and Death in Venice. The specific roles in question are likely Lestat and Tadzio respectively with both being young, blonde, and somewhat androgynous.
In the fashion history context, Joseph's outfit seems to be inspired by rococo fashion, which was incredibly popular from the 1720s to the 1750s. It was popularized by Madame Pompadour, one of Louis XV's favorite mistresses. Marie Antoinette was another influential figure when it came to rococo fashion and is one of the most notable individuals that comes to mind when speaking of the era today. However, the fashion began to decline in popularity during the 1760s and ultimately disappeared all together with the French Revolution. French Rococo, especially among the aristocracy, was all about showcasing your wealth. It focused on elegance and refinement, elaborate patterns and embroidery (many times with floral motifs) were all common in rococo. Joseph seems to be wearing what was called a habit à la française, which aligned with what a majority of men at the time wore. It consists of a coat, waistcoat, and breeches. The blue coat with golden leaf embroidery is especially accurate for the period with both colors being quite popular. The floral embroidery is also both accurate and a subtle symbol of wealth as complex patterns such as the one Joseph wears were more costly than most could afford. Another small detail is his sword. The designers claimed that the sword (and him being a swordsman) was supposed to give him a slight edge, communicating that even despite his looks, he shouldn't be trifled with. The sword in question is a saber, a sword which was used by the French military (especially the cavalry and infantry) during the late 18th century. This could be a reference to Joseph Nicéphore, who if you recall, was a military officer at the time. In addition, this also doubles as yet another symbol of his wealth, as only the nobility had the right to carry a sword.
Joseph's design is meant to be the embodiment of elegance. Every aspect of his design—from his sword to his clothing— was meant to reflect his aristocratic background. His design is also very delicate in nature. The bright and frilly rococo clothing he wears contrasts with his white hair and pale skin, making him appear more like a fine china figurine (which were also incredibly popular in the rococo era).
His Camera World design is juxtaposed by his real world version. In the guidebook, the designers stated that the difference between the two forms was supposed to "create a subtle taste of fear". This design utilizes themes and motifs from his previous design but distorts them in a way where they become unappealing. This is most apparent in the cracks present all over his skin. They give him a frail appearance unlike the elegant delicacy of his Camera World version seen previously. Similarly, the vibrant colors from before have instead been replaced by varying black and gray hues. All of these design elements combined make him look both like a broken doll and an old photograph. The contrasting forms could also be a parallel to Dorian Gray. In the book, Dorian is a beautiful man while the portrait of his soul is hideous and rotting as a reflection of his sins. Similar to Dorian, Joseph's Camera World form takes the appearance of a beautiful young man. However, his husk form, much like Dorian’s portrait, is uncanny and a result of his own obsessions.
Place and Time Period
So when does Joseph's backstory take place? It mentions a revolution but as some have pointed out, the revolution which caused Joseph's family to flee is never specified in his deductions. Despite this, there are details within Joseph's backstory which point to this being the French Revolution. The first and most noticeable one are his clothes. As previously discussed, the clothes Joseph wears were from the rococo era. Identity V isn't the most accurate when it comes to historical clothing but this isn't a case where the clothes look nothing like the period; in fact, Joseph's clothing looks identical to those of the late 18th century. However the most conclusive pieces of evidence come from his later deductions, starting with the sixth and seventh "Dark Box" and "Rumor". The dark box is referring to a camera obscura, a dark room or box with a small hole which allows light in and projects an image opposite of the hole.
The camera obscura has been around for centuries and was used by artists of all kinds. Its ability to project outside images served as an aid for these artists, they'd simply trace the image and improve upon it later. This is exactly what's mentioned in his sixth deduction where he says "Even the most advanced painting techniques cannot perfectly reproduce the scene from the Black Box". His seventh deduction describes how his maids and workers have become strange, they whisper things behind his back and are taking sick leaves more often. This is all due to Joseph's new experiments. The deductions themselves don't really tell us much; it's only when they're combined that we get the full picture. Much like Niépce Nicéphore, Joseph became inspired to find a way to make the images projected by the camera obscura permanent. Joseph laments how they're "beautiful but fleeting" and how no painting no matter how good could compare to the real thing. If photography had already been invented, what reason would he have to lament about the impermanence of an outdated device? There are also his eighth and ninth deductions "Corrode" and "Develop". I won't go too into detail (yet) but the chemicals mentioned are those required to create a heliograph and a daguerreotype respectively. These methods were early versions of photography developed from 1822 to 1839. The daguerreotype specifically became wildly popular in Europe, and the ways to make it became public that same year. So from this, we can assume that these deductions must've happened on or prior to these dates. If it were after 1839, there would be no reason why his discoveries should be news to him. Even if you argue that this is merely him experimenting with the camera in order to trap souls, it still wouldn't make sense. As mentioned, the chemicals used are the exact ones used to create the photographs, nothing more. If this were truly a journal describing his research about the alterations made to trap souls, then it'd list the alterations made rather than the process of merely making the picture (which would've been public knowledge after 1839). These lab notes weren't him describing how to capture souls, they were describing how to produce a permanent photograph. All of this is supported by the designer's comments in Joseph's once skin. His once skin takes place when Claude was alive and the Desaulniers family was still in France. In the skin, Joseph is holding a doodle made by Claude. The designers deliberately state that the reason for this is that photography had yet to be invented. Bearing all of this in mind, it's clear that Joseph's backstory takes place sometime before 1839. With this time frame in mind, there were no other French revolutions at the time that would fit the criteria other than the French Revolution of 1789. While there was the July Revolution of 1830, this revolution didn't really cause the need for French aristocrats to leave their country.
The Luxuries of the Aristocracy
As we know, Joseph was born into a family of affluent French aristocrats. Prior to the revolution, France had three estates. The first estate was made up of clergy, the second estate was the nobility, leaving the rest of the population to make up the third estate. The aristocracy was in the second state and made up around a mere 1-2% of the population. They owned land and were exempt from most taxation, most notably the "taille" or base tax. Among the nobility there were titles which included the duc, marquis, comte, vicomte, and baron. We know that Joseph was a comte or count. Counts were in the middle when it came to noble ranking; they owned and held jurisdiction over a county. Although not always the case, most nobles were generally very wealthy and powerful.
One privilege which came with such wealth was a better education. The nobility considered a good education to be an essential part of being in the upper classes. Education for the higher classes were usually from either a tutor or a boarding school. Boarding schools were usually favored as they promoted independence but tutors were preferred for younger boys. The curriculum heavily focused on classic teachings and literature. Reading, writing, and mathematics were just as essential then as they are now and it was also common for boys to study history and geography. Another essential part of the curriculum was Latin or Greek. Philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle were popular at the time and the education system reflected this. There were also academies for etiquette which were very popular. As the name implies, these schools focused on teaching boys customs that would be useful to have as an aristocrat (or any member of the upper class for that matter). A lot of these would focus on art and refinement; they'd teach various things including fencing, poetry, dancing, and painting among others. So it goes without saying that Joseph got access to excellent education as a child thanks to his aristocratic background. His talents in painting, dancing, and fencing all reflect his aristocratic education. The fact that they're listed as his talents reflect both how dedicated Joseph is to both his studies and maintaining the illusion of a perfect aristocrat.
Prior to the revolution, Joseph's family was described as being the stereotypical French aristocrats. They were extremely wealthy and they lived an extravagant life because of it. They're depicted as hedonistic, throwing elaborate banquets and parties alongside their fellow noblemen. Joseph joins his family in these celebrations, enjoying living the carefree life that his status allows him. According to the DaShen personality quizzes, he's social and a natural aristocrat; he's loved by many and seen as a model child. However due to his popularity, he feels pressured by their expectations. Perhaps it's because of this that he's said to maintain high standards for himself and is very self regulated. It's also stated that he sometimes wishes he could escape and just be alone. He's dedicated to his studies which can also make him forget about socializing. Yet despite all of this, his wealth and status likely meant that Joseph lived a good life. He would've had access to things most couldn't afford such as a good education, food, and proper medical attention among others. However because of this status he also lived a very sheltered life with both him and his family being described as oblivious to the unhappiness of the people outside their luxurious courts.
Beginning of the End
However, the upper classes had to get that money from somewhere, and it so happens to be that that somewhere was through the exploitation of the third estate, which comprised 96% of the French population. The upper classes gained their wealth through heavily taxing the poor third estate. However, due to numerous reasons, France was in an ongoing financial crisis at the time. In order to address said crisis, the king summoned the Estates General. This is likely the conference which is referenced in Joseph's first deduction. The ceremony was held on May 4, 1789 and lasted two days. The Estates General was an assembly made up of the three classes (clergy, nobility, and commoners). They had the power to enact reforms and each estate would get one vote. This was a rigged system as everyone had equal voting power, despite the nobility and clergy making up only about 4% of the population. This resulted in the clergy and nobility teaming up and outvoting the third estate. In addition, this is exactly what happened on May 5 as the clergy and nobility voted to once again raise taxes on the commoners. The third estate, who was already suffering greatly, and who had been unfairly taxed for decades, decided to revolt. Thus, in 1789 the French Revolution began, a revolution which would last for over ten years. It is considered by many to be one of the most violent revolutions to date with the estimated number of deaths the period resulted in to be around 40,000.
During these violent times, many people from all walks of life decided to leave France. These exiles would be known as émigrés. There are two things that I'd like to note about the émigrés. Firstly, they weren't always seeking peace, many of them were wealthy royalists who wished to organize a counter revolution. I find it unlikely that this was the case for the Desaulniers family, as they're described as refugees, but I still wanted to mention it. Secondly, émigrés weren't only the first and second estate, many of them were people from the third estate. In fact, émigrés were quite diverse socially, more than you'd assume with only about 17-18% being nobles. Regardless of intentions or class, upwards of 100,000 émigres fled to neighboring European countries with Britain being a popular destination. It was the closest to France so it was the quickest and easiest route to take. However because Britain was separated by a channel this made getting to England easier said than done. The first problem was getting to the channel itself. Due to political turmoil, simply crossing the French border was extremely difficult. There are accounts of aristocrats having to disguise themselves as sailors in order to pass. But even if they passed, getting into a ship was another struggle. Many sailors noticed how desperate émigrés were so they hiked up the prices of their passages as a way to earn extra money. Many émigrés already had little money (as much as they could carry) so they couldn't afford the expensive voyages. Though, even if one had managed to go through all of that, the voyage itself was dangerous as well. The seas in the area were rough so many boats would sink, which killed many. We aren't given many details on the Desaulniers' journey other than the fact that it was arduous. Although something I'd like to note was that we know that Claude died in the winter season around a month prior to reaching their destination. They would've had to pass through the English Channel, a twenty-nine thousand mile piece of the Atlantic Ocean separating France and Britain. The English Channel usually has unpredictable weather but from October to April the waters are particularly treacherous. The weather is cold with around 12°C (54°F) during bad weather although it can dip down as low as -5°C (23°F) in the winter. It's also very wet, cloudy, and windy; all of these elements result in very poor visibility. These descriptions seem to match up with the conditions described in the first character day letter when Claude died. It was during a rainy and chilly day sometime during winter up to early spring. It's probably thanks to this harsh weather that Claude got sick in the first place.
When people talk about Joseph and his fear of death they mainly talk about it being caused by Claude's death. This is understandable as Claude dying was indeed a traumatic experience for Joseph but the turmoil of the revolution also bears examining. When the Revolution began, his entire life was turned upside down. He was forced to leave behind his old life and home upon fear of death. The journey to Britain is described as arduous and even when he managed to get there he'd still be faced with having to adjust to a different country, one which he might not even know the language of. Another point to consider was how bloody the French Revolution was. During the Reign of Terror (1793-1794) alone upwards of twenty thousand were killed. It's very likely that many of his fellow aristocrats were killed at some point and to add insult to injury, he likely never got any confirmation about what their fates were. There's also the many émigrés who died during the voyage, some of which he might've seen personally. We know that all of this left an impact on him because of his first letter. While the letter mainly focuses on Claude, others who died are also mentioned repeatedly."
[Death] took you with him and left. He took many with him and left – I even began to blame myself. Why did I survive in this freezing spring?" - Joseph, An Unsent Letter (2020)
The implications that others (presumably on the voyage) died as well could imply that Claude wasn't the only one who was sick. It's possible that the entire ship got infected with some sort of flu or disease, the aforementioned weather could've been a contributor. This is further supported by a different line later in the letter.
The implications that others (presumably on the voyage) died as well could imply that Claude wasn't the only one who was sick. It's possible that the entire ship got infected with some sort of flu or disease, the aforementioned weather could've been a contributor. This is further supported by a different line later in the letter.
"Those disasters, those illnesses, those lives lost, those people who should have welcomed spring with us… I want to remember them all." - Joseph, An Unsent Letter (2020)
These lines also show us that Joseph suffers from survivor's guilt from surviving instead of not only Claude, but everyone who died (presumably on both the voyage and during the Revolution). He vows that he wants to remember them all, due to his guilt he probably feels as if it's his responsibility to remember their deaths. While Claude's death definitely affected him it's possible that had he survived, Joseph would still have developed unhealthy views on death (although perhaps less intense).
With all of that said, Claude absolutely played a major role in Joseph's trauma. As mentioned, his death is seemingly what Joseph feels the most guilty over seeing how he is mentioned in every letter and that his ultimate goal is to bring him back. There are also the conditions in which Claude died. Joseph lost his twin during possibly one of the most difficult and hectic times in his life; they hadn't even been able to make it to their new home in England yet. Claude also died of an illness, one which affected him so badly that he couldn't even sleep. This combined with it being mid voyage means that Joseph got to watch the slow and likely painful death of his twin without being able to do anything about it. He couldn't even separate himself from the situation because again, they're on a boat, so he was forced to confront the reality of the situation. Another small detail (that isn't in the official English translation of the letter but is in the original Chinese version) is that Joseph was the older brother. While he could've only been older by an hour at most, he probably felt additional guilt over failing to protect his younger brother. This failure to protect him combined with the helplessness he felt over being unable to do anything as Claude’s condition worsened is probably the reason why he's so desperate to preserve souls.
With all of this in mind it's easy to understand why Joseph is so fearful of death and desperate to avoid it. This is also a good time to remind you that he was a child when all of this happened, or at most a teenager. He was forced to leave behind his home and was exposed to numerous deaths in the process. Along the way he also lost his closest friend, all while being unable to do anything about it. Joseph didn't just lose his twin, he lost his home, friends, and stability. He went through multiple traumatic events back to back and was never able to heal from them.
The Parallels of Dorian Gray
We aren't given many details of what happens between his arrival to England and him first receiving the books. I'd use history to fill in the gap as I've been doing, but what happened to the émigrés after their arrival varies wildly depending on many circumstances (even among the same classes) so without details I can't really draw any conclusions. Because of this, I'll go straight to discussing the mysterious books. From this point forward, there begins to be strong parallels between Joseph's backstory and The Picture of Dorian Gray.
One thing to note is that Joseph didn't immediately become obsessed with photography after the death of Claude.
"[Joseph] wasn't this crazy in the past. Things took a turn when he went somewhere far away. No one knows what happened during the trip, save that he brought back with him a number of mysterious books. From then on, the old man spent all day in the darkroom and shut everyone out." - Macaulay, The Last Letter (2021)
From this we know that his obsession with photography only began after receiving some books. This is a direct parallel to Dorian Gray where upon receiving the yellow book from Henry, Dorian becomes completely consumed by what it preaches. Now in Joseph's backstory we're mostly left in the dark about the mysterious books. The only clues we're given are that it led to his obsession and that it was sudden. Despite what little we have to go off, it's possible that these books were given to him by someone rather than him just finding them. This is merely a theory of course, but one that I think is worth discussing. One reason I say this is because of the Dorian Gray parallel. So if the mysterious books are a direct parallel to the yellow book, then what about the sources and circumstances of the book? In the novel, Dorian receives the book from Henry, but what's notable is when and how exactly he receives the book. Henry sends him the book alongside a newspaper, it's about the suicide of his fiance. Dorian is understandably upset and decides to focus his attention on the yellow book instead, being completely consumed within only a couple of minutes of reading it.
Before we talk about that however, I want to talk about Joseph's deduction star skin (stay with me here). His deduction star skin is based on the 1926 film version of Faust. The film starts with a demon named Mephisto making a bet with an angel saying that if he can corrupt an innocent man's soul, the Devil will rule the Earth. A plague (sent by the Devil) soon befalls a village, where an elderly alchemist named Faust lives. Faust spends day and night praying and experimenting, hoping to find a cure for the disease. One night he receives a knock at the door from a young girl asking for help for her dying mother. Faust goes to give her medicine however it's all for naught as the woman dies in his arms. Distraught, he runs home, ignoring the dying villagers who beg for his help along the way. Once he gets home he begins burning all of his books in a fit of distress. However one book (The Holy Bible) transforms into an instruction manual on how to summon a demon to gain power. Immediately after seeing this Faust goes to the crossroads (as directed by the book) and summons Mephisto.
Okay, now let's unpack everything. Something which both of these two pieces of media contain is the theme of manipulation, especially through death. Both men were exposed to death which left them feeling perturbed, then an outside force came in to take advantage of their vulnerability. It wasn't an accident either, Mephisto (and the Devil) created a circumstance where Faust would be left emotionally defenseless and then gave him a book promising him the world. In Lord Henry's case, he doesn't cause the death of Sibyl; however he is very much still trying to manipulate Dorian into believing his views.
"...There was something terribly enthralling in the exercise of influence. No other activity was like it – there was nothing that one could not do with [Dorian]. He could be made a Titan or a toy." - Lord Henry, The Picture of Dorian Gray (P57-8)
Both of these line up with what we know about Joseph and the books. It's possible that whoever gave him the books was aware of his previous trauma with death and took advantage of it. At the end of the first letter Joseph vowed to remember those who died so it's possible that whoever the book giver was, used that desire to lure him in. Now the only thing we don't know is the motive. In Faust the motive was to prove something to God and in The Picture of Dorian Gray the motive was to see how he'd turn out (in other words Dorian was Henry's lab rat). It's possible that the person behind it wanted to know more about resurrection via photography themselves and handed it off to Joseph knowing that he'd become obsessed due to his fear of death or perhaps they just wanted to see the psychological impact it'd have on him but these are just pure speculation.
While we're talking about parallels, I would like to quickly talk about Elliot for a moment. Elliot is a character who's appeared in two of Joseph's character day letters so far however, the third is where we truly get to hear about him.
"I distinctly recall a young man from many years ago by the name of Eckhart... Or was it Elliot? Or maybe Elton...? It matters not. He was not the first to take offense to my experimentation, but he was certainly the most rational and vocal about it." - Joseph, A Diary Made from Stationary Paper (2022)
Based on the letter Elliot is probably one of Joseph's close friends since we know that those were the people he told about his experiments directly. If Elliot really is one of Joseph's friends, that gives us a little insight as to what he's like based on how Joseph picks his friends.
"[Joseph's] standards are never lowered when faced with others; [he] like[s] being around people who excel at self-control, and [he] cannot befriend those who cannot exhibit high levels of discipline." - DaShen Fortune Quiz
Assuming that he is, that would mean that Elliot was the only friend who took him seriously as we know that all of his other friends didn't. It's possible that everyone else took offense to so much as the concept of Joseph's experiments while Elliot knew that he was actually doing them (supported by the second letter but we'll get to that in a bit). Whatever the case, Elliot must've had an impact on Joseph for him to remember him all of these years later (even if he forgot his name). Joseph is rather passionate about his views on his experiments and death so the fact that he finds himself questioning his stance, even if for just a brief moment, is an achievement. Elliot might be a parallel to Basil Hallward in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Basil was Dorian's close friend whom he cared about deeply. He became concerned when he began listening to Henry and repeatedly tried to protect Dorian. Even when Dorian shows him the corrupted painting, Basil still tries to help, which ultimately leads to his death. Dorian, on the other hand, doesn't seem to care about Basil's advice or warnings. He brushes him aside in favor of listening to either Henry or the book's guidelines. Sometimes, Dorian will look back at Basil and consider that maybe he should've listened only to quickly cast the thought aside. Now compare this to what we know about Elliot and Joseph. Elliot tried to convince Joseph that his experiments and views on death were wrong (many times) yet his words fell on deaf ears. Later in life however he reconsiders Elliot's words and wonders if they may have had any merit but ignores it.
"I had no desire to listen to his sermons about the deceased or the meaning of life and time. The longer I live, however, the more I find myself recalling his words." - Joseph, A Diary Made from Stationary Paper (2022)
Both of these situations are very similar to one another. Both Elliot and Basil tried to save their friends from the negative influence of someone or something. Similarly, both Joseph and Dorian heed their warnings, only taking them into account briefly just to ignore it a couple of moments later.
Perceptions and Facades
Now something I want to talk about is how the perception and expectations of others affects Joseph. We have to remember that Joseph is an aristocrat, a position that's expected to be and act a certain way in order to fit into high society. We know from the DaShen personality quizzes that he often felt pressured by these expectations, wishing to escape. Yet despite his wishes, he fulfilled all of these standards perfectly. He's talented at painting, fencing, and dancing all of which are skills that one should expect from an ideal aristocrat. He's elegant and charming, seen as the model child and adored by others. And yet this is nothing but a mask. Joseph, especially after the death of Claude, is a deeply troubled individual. He felt immense guilt over his death, a guilt which he never recovered from. He seems to have, at the very least, suffered from depression. Yet despite his mental and emotional anguish, he maintains his facade. This can be seen a lot during his character replies, especially those during his character day. Even when the commenter is sympathetic towards him or attempts to comfort him, he denies anything being wrong. Occasionally, his mask will slip and he'll lash out but this results in him quickly apologizing and sometimes even denying that it happened at all.
Joseph's entire life up to this point has been a facade. However the facade beforehand was likely due to his noble background, he did it because that's how aristocrats were meant to behave. Yet when he started experimenting with photography, he had a reason to continue his charade. We know from his backstory that he tried to explain to others that he found a way to preserve souls but no one took it well. Yet despite their criticisms, Joseph remained confident that his experiments would be beneficial and decided to continue with them anyway. However, a new approach was needed and if he tried to explain his experiments he'd likely get brushed off once more. We know that Joseph is very perceptive of others' views on him (and that he's liked). It's highly likely that he consciously used this fact to his advantage in order to gain others' trust and convince them to have their photograph taken without having to tell them what that would actually entail. This is supported by both his lore alongside story descriptions for various skins and accessories. Themes of temptation and deception are often brought up in these descriptions, one example is his S skin Judge. Where his "sorcery to deceive" is credited as a reason for why he came into power.
"The fabled General Judge is the first chief referee promoted from the executive commissioner. Some say it is because of his noble background, some say it is because of his profound knowledge and there are also those who say it is because of his sorcery to deceive people." - Judge Costume Background StoryWe already know that as an aristocrat, Joseph probably needed to learn how to appeal to others for whatever reason. However this is confirmed in one of his character replies, where he literally tells the audience that influencing people is part of his repertoire.
You might notice that the tone at which the facades are described seems to change. We hear about how he allows others' expectations to mold his actions and how pressured he feels by them but ultimately meets these expectations regardless. This gives the idea that maintaining his facade is something he does to please others rather than for himself. However, the tone shifts and we start to hear about how he deceives others. It mentions how you shouldn't be fooled by his elegance and how he has the ability to deceive. Now these aren't mutually exclusive, it's likely that he still felt the need to please others (and hide his vulnerabilities) but also used his appeal to trick others into participating in his experiments. However the shift in wording could indicate that he only started taking advantage of his appeal after he failed to convince others to get their photographs taken normally. Over time, his facade seems to have become less for the sake of pleasing others and more for himself.
An aspect of his allure that gets placed heavy emphasis on by both the lore and the fandom are his looks. As previously stated, when designing Joseph, the designers made him more conventionally attractive than they'd usually make hunters. His appearance plays quite a significant role in his backstory, namely by being a part of his aforementioned charm. However what I want to focus on are his character replies. While the character replies aren't necessarily canon, they do align with Joseph's character and how he'd charm others. The replies tend to be rather flirtatious in nature, even somewhat suggestive occasionally. A lot of people seem to interpret this flirtatiousness at face value and as a part of his actual character but I highly doubt that that's the case. As was already established, Joseph is someone who is acutely aware of his impact on others and he uses it to his advantage. If the person is particularly attracted to him because of his looks then there's no reason to assume that he wouldn't use that to his advantage. This is most likely what we're seeing, he isn't flirting because he's genuinely interested in the person, but instead because he wants to convince them to take a photo. This is especially apparent when you realize that most of the time that he's flirting with or flattering someone, he's asking them to take a photo. This can be seen both in character replies and in his deduction star quotes.
"Here, madam, let me take a memorable photo for you!" - Deduction Star Quote 2019"Can I take a photo of you, beautiful lady?""If you take a photo, you can hold its subject's most beautiful face in your hands." - Deduction Star Quotes 2020
On the subject of it only being a facade, there's also a chance that he flat out dislikes his beauty being the center of attention. This is only mentioned in one comment so this is admittedly a bit of a shaky basis but it'd make perfect sense. If you recall, when Joseph revealed his experiments, he wasn't expecting any backlash. Him having to jump through all of these hoops and having to put up all of these charades just to convince people to get their photographs taken wasn't really a part of his plan. So him getting frustrated at someone for only focusing on his appearance rather than his experiments (like the example below) seems understandable. But just as all of the other facades before this, he probably just ignores this frustration because it gets him more clients.
However there is another reason why Joseph's appearance is important to his lore, which is in relation with Claude. Joseph and Claude being identical twins adds a new psychological struggle which couldn't have happened otherwise, that being that Joseph seems to link his appearance to that of Claude.
"I missed you, my dear brother. Yet when I stand in front of the mirror, day by day, the face looking back at me has begun to feel foreign." - Joseph, An Unsent Letter (2020)
There are two ways to interpret this line. One interpretation is that Joseph is beginning to look different from Claude as he continues aging, which he dislikes. The other interpretation is that he is growing unable to differentiate Claude from himself. The latter reading could also imply that as he forgets Claude, he is also forgetting himself. Regardless of interpretation however, one thing is clear, he continues to compare his own appearance to that of Claude even long after his death. Furthermore, the line "day by day" implies that this isn't merely a one time thing, but rather a recurring concern of his. Another line about Joseph's inability to see himself comes from the 2021 Character Day Art description.
"With a click and flash, he can seal fates. But Joseph only sees a blurred vision of himself in the mirror." - Character Day Art Description (2021)
Also something worth noting are his clothes. As mentioned previously, the clothing Joseph wears were from the rococo era which was prior to the French Revolution. This means that the clothes he is currently wearing are those he and Claude would've worn during childhood. Something that could also be happening is that Joseph is wearing Claude's clothes. This is just a theory however it's one supported by his once skin: Hangover. Hangover takes place prior to Joseph's family fleeing France and when Claude was still alive. Here, they were still living a highly decadent lifestyle filled with parties and celebrations. We see that Joseph's clothes are much looser and lighter in this skin, only wearing a white blouse with light grey breeches and stockings. This is a sharp contrast between the bulky navy blue suit he currently wears in game. He's holding a doodle Claude made, one which shows the two twins together. The doodle shows that the clothes Claude was wearing are those Joseph wears today (or at least a very similar silhouette and style). It's possible that, while drunk, Joseph merely took off his coat, waistcoat, and cravat but based on the sketch I find that unlikely. In this skin, Joseph would have to be old enough to where it's considered socially acceptable to drink alcohol (the drinking age in France was 16 until 2009). Bearing this age in mind, the sketch and handwriting by Claude look far too juvenile to be that of a 16 year old. It's likely that the sketch Joseph is holding wasn't something Claude had made that day, just something he had drawn at some point. If this is true then that would mean that before Claude's death, Joseph had an entirely different style of dressing. So not only does Joseph struggle with comparing himself with Claude, but he also mimics him in terms of appearance such as wearing the same clothes. The fact that the clothes have very different and distinct styles means that Joseph dressing like that isn't a coincidence either. We know that Joseph feels the need to remember his brother due to survivor's guilt. We also know that photography was yet to be invented, so there's no way to perfectly preserve what Claude would've looked like other than his twin. This was likely his own way of keeping Claude and his memory alive. His trauma and attachment to Claude has managed to warp his perception on his own looks. He doesn't see himself as Joseph, but rather as a twin who should strive to imitate his other lost half.
Philosophies and Murders
Joseph's philosophies all center around one thing: preservation. We see this theme pop up time and time again throughout every piece of his lore. He uses photos as a way to preserve the person whose picture is being taken. Now to put it lightly his methods and processes are highly questionable. Firstly, the process is seemingly done without the person's knowledge about what'll happen to them, all they know is that they'll be modeling. Then there's the photographs themselves. Once the photo is taken, the person's soul becomes trapped within the photo and their body seemingly goes missing. Whether or not they're conscious while they're in the picture is uncertain although his backstory does mention that when the mob broke in the photos seemed to be looking at them. There's also his dynamic portrait which seems to show the person inside the photograph banging or pushing against the film but again, nothing is confirmed.
He took so many photos that the village population began to dwindle. For reference, according to one source, a village population ranges from 500 to 2500 inhabitants. What this means is that he trapped hundreds of people, possibly even a thousand or two. What's more, children and elders were included in this total as well. His actions were (and still are) horrible, yet there is one last detail in all of this: he doesn't believe that what he's doing is wrong in any way. He doesn't view his photography as him damning a soul for all of eternity but rather as sparing them from the death which he finds so cruel. We see this all throughout his backstory, where he desperately tries to convince others that his methods are the best thing to do. However this is most prevalent in his third character letter. The entire letter is him frustrated how others can't see it the way he sees it, and how others should be happy to be immortalized forever.
"Why? Why don't they understand? Life is a gift, a wondrous blessing that should end as poetically as it begins. For this reason, when a person faces their own end, they should be grateful, even ecstatic, at the opportunity to have their final moments immortalized." - Joseph, A Diary Made from Stationary Paper (2022)
By no means does this make any of his actions okay, an explanation isn't a justification. He's still damning innocent souls to spend an eternity in a photograph without so much as a warning, a fate arguably worse than death. However it's important to understand that he does this with no malice. At worst, he does it with apathy. This makes his actions all the more horrifying, this isn't a case of him believing in the ends justifying the means or sadism which are common theories, he wholeheartedly believes in preserving people through photography. What makes Joseph a bad person aren't his motives or his stance on death, but because he's arrogant and imposes his definition of right onto others. He doesn't stop to think (or most likely even care) what the person who's going to be trapped in the photograph eternally thinks, he's right and they should actually be thankful that he's doing them a favor! He refuses to hear anyone out when they object to his ideas, even his close friends. Yet the thing that makes it worse is that he's very much suffering from the consequences of his actions. His relentless pride (and people's disappearances) have led those around him to distance themselves from him. He drove away anyone who tried to help and was left all alone, a solitude which he mentions many times throughout his letters and diaries. Yet not even this was able to make him reconsider his actions. In fact, the only thing which he says will make him admit his own failure is Claude not returning.
"Indeed, there is but one thing, and one thing alone, that could make me acknowledge the failure of my endeavors. And that would be... If you never came back to me." - Joseph, A Diary Made from Stationary Paper (2022)
However this isn't really a reliable goal once you think about it. How would he determine when to stop? He's already completely ruined his life, if anything, he's even more free to continue now that he no longer has anything to lose. This sentiment is echoed later in his letter, where he keeps telling himself that he just needs to be patient and that everything will work out "soon enough". His obsession is so severe that even as he faces the consequences of his actions he refuses to give up.
While Joseph's backstory tells us why he wants to trap souls and bring back the dead, it doesn't really tell us how he plans on doing it. Sure we know that he's capturing souls with a camera but that doesn't really explain how reanimating the dead would work. However I have a theory, one which is founded on something mentioned in his backstory: parapsychology. Joseph is said to have become obsessed with parapsychology, a pseudoscience focusing on studying psychic phenomena. One area of study in the field is spirit photography. Spirit photography was popularized by William H Mumler during the 1860s and 70s, gaining more traction due to all the casualties caused by the civil war. As the name implies, it's about being able to capture images of ghosts in photographs. It's founded on spiritualism, a religious belief which was in the popular 19th century. Spiritualism is a complex topic which I won't get into so as to not butcher details but what you need to know is that they believe that communication with the spirit of the deceased is possible. The photos in question would be of these spirits, oftentimes they'd be the model's deceased loved ones. The spirits would be seen close to the model and sometimes even embracing them.
With that context in mind, let's compare it to what Joseph is doing. We know that he traps living people in his photographs in order to preserve them. Now, this doesn't really match up with spirit photography, as that's focused on capturing images of the dead. However we do know that Joseph's ultimate goal is to bring back Claude. What he's likely trying to do is bring back the dead by capturing their spirits in a photograph. His current experiments are just that, experiments. He's trying to bring back the dead via photographs but he's testing by capturing the souls (or spirits) of the living first. So why doesn't he just go straight into photographing the spirits of the deceased wouldn't that be a better lead? One thing to note is that spirit photography isn't about trapping people in photos, merely recording them. It's possible that this was an aspect which he was struggling with at first, trapping the soul might've been an obstacle in and of itself. Yet even after he managed to do that another hurdle could be summoning the spirits themselves. At least with the living they're still alive and their souls are right there so his only issue would be trapping said soul. With the dead he'd have to not only have to trap their soul but also find a way to summon them in the first place. However this is all just a theory as his backstory is unfortunately very vague when it comes to his actual plans.
Photography and Neurotoxins
As stated earlier, the techniques and chemicals mentioned in Joseph's deductions hold basis in reality. Not only are the chemicals mentioned historically accurate, but the timeline of events and discoveries are accurate as well.
The eighth deduction "Corrode" discusses two processes. The first part of the deduction is likely referring to the first non fixed negative made in 1816. Niépce called these negatives "retinas". These negatives were made by coating a paper in silver salts and then placing them inside the camera obscura. The deduction says "silver nitrate can be replaced by silver chloride" which is a reference to the chemical changes that silver nitrate (AgNO3) undergoes when sodium chloride (NaCl) is added. Upon the addition of sodium chloride, the silver nitrate becomes silver chloride (AgCl). The line "continuously placed in the dark box" is simply referring to the exposure time necessary. Let's quickly talk about exposure as it's going to come up quite a bit. Exposure is pretty self explanatory, it's how much light reaches the camera's sensor (or in this case, the film itself). Exposure time basically means how long you have to leave the lens open in order to record the image. Now the next two lines in the deduction are separated from the rest, they say "blur" and "asphalt". The blur in question is likely the fact that the negative isn't fixed (permanent) so it will fade. Now the asphalt line is probably a reference to heliography, a photographic process developed in 1822. It was used for photo engraving, or making copies of preexisting drawings; however, it eventually gave birth to photography (and the first photograph) in 1827. The asphalt in question is called bitumen of Judea. The bitumen would first be coated onto a plate made of either glass, copper, or tin. The plate would then be placed on an etching covered in varnish. Both plates are exposed to plenty of sunlight for three to four hours and then rinsed with a mixture of lavender oil and white kerosene. This would result in the bitumen plate showing a negative of the drawing copied. Another process was using highly corrosive nitric acid. Instead of rinsing it with lavender oil and kerosene, the bitumen plate is rinsed with nitric acid. Bitumen is acid resistant so only the places without it would corrode thus leaving an etched drawing. This is what the deduction's title "corrode" is likely referring
Despite this being the first mention of photography being used in Joseph's deductions, I doubt this is when he began taking people's souls. Exposure time for photography at this stage took a bare minimum of 8 hours (more at times) and wouldn't always work. Would there be people who were still willing to model for him regardless of the long time necessary? Probably. In fact, I'm sure at least one reader said yes before I even mentioned it. But these cases probably weren't the norm, and even if it were and everyone said yes we have to consider how many people he photographed. The village population began to dwindle, even if Joseph managed to take a photo every single day without fail he probably wouldn't be able to make that many people disappear at that scale. And that's not even beginning to consider how the method wasn't consistent and wouldn't always work. It's probable that the maids in his manor were becoming more distant and fearful due to his obsessive behavior with his experimentation rather than anything to do with people disappearing.
His next deduction "Develop" is describing the daguerreotype. The daguerreotype was created by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre around 1838 and became public in 1839. They're created by taking a copper plate coated with silver and polishing it with rottenstone and alcohol until the plate is mirror-like. The polished plate is placed in a dark chamber with iodine crystals. The iodine fumes react with the silver resulting in a plate coated with silver iodide. The coated plate is once again placed in the chamber but this time with bromine fumes. The plate is now coated with bromoiodide of silver and light sensitive. The plate is placed in the camera with a removable cover in place so light can't touch it. Once the cover is removed the photo is ready to be taken. In order to take the photo the camera lens cover is removed. The exposure time could be over 20 seconds and devices were invented to keep the model from moving.
After the plate is exposed, it must be developed in order to show the actual photo. Liquid mercury is poured into a vessel and heated at about 79°C (174°F). The plate is placed in the chamber and the mercury vapors react with the plate, exposing the image. The deduction is named "Develop" as a reference to this very step, the mercury vapors mentioned are referring to the mercury vapors which the photo has to be exposed to in order to appear (called latent image). To fix the photo so it doesn't disappear, it's bathed in a solution of sodium thiosulfate. The plate is finished off by gilding it with gold chloride which hardens the plate. Finally, the photo is ready and placed in a case consisting of a mat and a glass cover. Moisture and air proof tape is also used.
This method was likely the one most used by Joseph and the one which allowed him to amass so many photographs. Unlike its predecessor, the daguerreotype merely took around 20 seconds of exposure to capture the image. When compared to the previous 8 hours this makes it much easier to convince people to model. What's more, the photo which he's seen holding bears resemblance to the frames used in daguerreotypes.
Something you might've noticed is that many of the processes used for 19th century photography involved multiple dangerous chemicals. Nitric acid is a highly corrosive acid and iodine, bromine, and mercury are all toxic when inhaled. However the most dangerous of these and the one I'll be focusing on is mercury and its vapor. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin which means that it attacks the nervous system.
Now let's consider Joseph's circumstances, namely his equipment and where he worked. The chamber where the mercury was poured was in no way air tight. What this means is that even if the most of the vapors are absorbed by the film, some is bound to leak out which will eventually accumulate. We also know that Joseph's darkroom was located in the basement, which is by far the worst location to be messing with mercury. There would be no proper ventilation which would make it extremely easy for mercury vapors to be trapped in. The door is seemingly locked as well which just serves to worsen the already bad air flow. Another detriment is the long hours Joseph spends in said basement, his entire days are spent down there. Finally, consider that Joseph at this point, is an old man. Not only is he an old man but he's already exposing himself to other dangerous chemicals. With these two factors it'd be safe to assume that his health isn't exactly the best, let alone good enough to withstand a potent neurotoxin with no side effects. So this leaves us with a man with preexisting health problems spending his days in a poorly ventilated basement who's handling mercury vapors with likely no protection. Bearing all of this in mind the chances of him being exposed to dangerous amounts of mercury vapors and getting poisoned seems very plausible.
Now that we've established the possibility of Joseph suffering from mercury poisoning I would like to talk about the effects of mercury on the body, starting with the physical repercussions. There are many effects and they differ depending on whether it's acute or chronic. Joseph's case was likely chronic as it was small doses over a long period of time as opposed to large doses in a short period. Physical effects of chronic mercury exposure include tremors, hypertension, nausea, vomiting, weight loss, difficulty breathing, headaches, vertigo, skin peeling, and general pain just to name a few. Here's a full chart of symptoms for those of you who are interested.
However one of the biggest ways that mercury poisoning affects the human body is neurological. The neurological symptoms of chronic mercury poisoning are often referred to as Mad Hatter's Syndrome. The term gets its name from 18-20th century hatters who would frequently work with mercury and thus go mad. However just because it was named after hatters doesn't mean that it only affected them, in fact, many 19th century photographers were reported to have suffered from the syndrome. Mad Hatter's syndrome is also a form of erethism, a state of "abnormal irritability or responsiveness to stimulation". Symptoms of Mad Hatter's Syndrome include depression, anxiety, nervousness, irritability, restlessness, memory loss, difficulty concentrating, excessive excitability, and timidity. Severe cases can also cause mania, psychosis, and delirium.
That's quite a lot, let's unpack it all one by one. We know that Joseph was already suffering mentally, and the effects of mercury likely worsened that horribly. Many of the symptoms caused by mercury are also things which he already had. He already suffered from depression and anxiety due to his earlier fear of death. I would also like to talk about increased timidity for a moment. Excessive timidity is one of the more noticeable symptoms when it comes to Mad Hatter's Syndrome. A man with the syndrome might become irritated when receiving visitors. This also affects their job as they may be unable to work if they're being watched. When we look at Joseph's second letter we see that Joseph doesn't exactly seem to be the most social person. The letter in question is about a detective (Macaulay) investigating his manor to find a missing person and yet Joseph doesn't seem to be all that present. Sure Macaulay mentions that "his gentle smile is a facade" but other than that Joseph seems to shut himself out most of the time, being in either his studio or darkroom. This is rather odd behavior for him especially since he seems to put on a social facade most of the time (whether it's real or not is irrelevant). Now this may not be the best example since Macaulay being there to investigate might've made Joseph apprehensive regardless of context but I still want to point it out. There's also one of Antonio's character replies where Joseph is referred to as a timid gentleman.
While Joseph shutting himself out was likely due to his obsession with photography, it's highly possible that the effects of mercury increased his isolation. I would also like to look at the physical symptoms as well. One of the physical symptoms of mercury poisoning is difficulty breathing, which is caused by inflammation of the throat and airway. In game, Joseph breathes quite heavily both in his husk and Camera World version. This could very well be as a result of mercury inhalation. There's also the weight loss and muscle loss that mercury causes which could be the reason why he's so thin, although I find it more likely that this was just a design choice. Now, I want to talk about mercury poisoning symptoms as a whole. The side effects of mercury poisoning are inconvenient at best and excruciating at worst, both physically and mentally. He was by all means slowly dying. This probably added onto the numerous preexisting mental and emotional struggles he was facing. We know that Joseph fears death so being able to either see or feel yourself worsening every passing day must've been an awful experience. Because of this, it's very possible that he grew more and more desperate to perfect his invention. This in combination with improving photographic technology could be the reason why so many people went missing.
What Happens Next
So what happens afterwards? A panic-stricken mob forces their way into Joseph's manor only to find him missing. It's possible that the mob formed after the events of his second character day letter. At the end of the letter, Macaulay says that he'll sneak into the darkroom to see what he discovers. However seeing as it's titled "The Last Letter" we can be sure that his attempts went horribly wrong and Joseph either took his soul or killed him. However one thing to note is that it's addressed to Elliot, who we know was Joseph's friend or at the very least knew what he was up to. From the quotes "I have made up my mind" and "I can't just back out at this point" we know that Elliot likely warned them that it was too dangerous and that they should quit. It's possible that after seeing that Macaulay didn't return, he told either the town or authorities, which led to the mob forming. They're described as "panic-stricken" and considering that people had been going missing for a while now and the fact that the latest missing person was someone who went to investigate is concerning and would understandably alarm people. This leaves us with Joseph, who is nowhere to be found when the mob breaks in. We know that due to his age, Joseph suffered from tremors which would probably make him unable to physically run away, especially in such a rush like this situation would require. What most likely happened is that he took a photo of himself thus sealing himself in the Camera World. This is supported by his third character day letter where he talks about a mirror realm.
"Perhaps it has been too long since I ventured out of the mirror's realm, and I have yet to ascertain the truth of the world around me." - Joseph, A Diary Made from Stationary Paper (2022)
Due to him being in a mirror realm, it'd be safe to assume that he isn't merely a hallucination like the other hunters but an actual supernatural being. Something else I want to point out is his third character day letter. Most characters got an experiment file detailing their game and time in the manor. Those who were already dead seem to have gotten a letter centered around those who could've hallucinated them (for example, Miles hallucinating Michiko) yet Joseph got neither of those. Despite him seemingly still being alive, we don't get any details for his game participation. We hear that he's still experimenting with photography which wouldn't be too unusual if it weren't for the circumstances.
Closing Discussion
Joseph was born into a family of wealthy aristocrats alongside Claude. Both were living happily and comfortably until the French Revolution occured. They were forced to leave their home and make an arduous journey to England. Unfortunately, Claude didn't survive, an event which left Joseph traumatized and permanently altered his views on life and mortality. He silently suffers due to the death of his younger twin until one day he makes a journey somewhere far away, bringing back with him a number of mysterious books. From then on, he becomes obsessed with photography and parapsychology. He begins to experiment with both of the topics, trapping people's souls in a photograph in order to preserve them for all of eternity. The experiments were unethical, yet despite multiple people telling him this, he remained confident in his stance, he was sparing them from the cruelties of death after all. As more and more people went missing people began to fear Joseph yet despite this he kept going, sacrificing his mental and physical health in the process. One day the villagers grow particularly anxious, they form a mob and break into Joseph's manor. However he is nowhere to be found, the only thing left behind being various life-like portraits on the walls.
Joseph is a tragic and complex character who's life was consumed (and eventually ruined) by his severe fear of death. Being exposed to so much death and losing his twin at such a young age resulted in him being traumatized, something he never recovered from. One day he finds a number of mysterious books, which mark the beginning of the end for him. Thanks to his own fears of death and the books, he begins to conduct experiments hoping to preserve souls. These preservation efforts were highly unethical, but he didn't see it that way. Thanks to a combination of his trauma, personality, and the books, he genuinely believed soul photography to be the best course of action. He didn't think that he was harming anyone, nor did he ever want to. However fear and arrogance clouded his judgement, refusing to listen to anyone who'd try to help him. His experiments become more and more obsessive as the years go by and due to this, he progressively begins to become reclusive, spending most of his waking hours with his photographs and cameras. He'd manage to cut off everyone who could've helped, he no longer had anything to keep him grounded. On top of this the chemicals he was using to make his beloved photographs were likely poisoning him, gradually killing him slowly and painfully. Yet despite this he continues to believe that he's in the right, even after the mob invades his home and he's forced to trap himself in a photograph he doesn't see any flaws with his experiments. Joseph is a character who, even after losing it all, remains determined to see his goals through. If I had to use one word to describe him and his actions I'd choose desperate. He's almost purely driven by desperation, he's desperate for Claude to come back, to go back to the past, for people to hear him out, and for his experiments to work. Yet most of these are unachievable dreams and continuing to chase them will only result in more misery for both him and the subject of his experiments.
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