Joshua

Joshua Artwork of Joshua from The Sacred Stones. A wandering swordsman from Jehanna. He loves to gamble.

Gender Male Race Human Family Ismaire (mother) Nationality Jehanna Title(s) Prince of Jehanna Starting class Myrmidon Voiced by Todd Haberkorn (English, Heroes) Hirofumi Nojima (Japanese, Heroes) Appearance(s) The Sacred Stones Heroes

“	Gambling's what I live for. Even when I lose, I never want to stop.	”	— Joshua to Natasha.

Joshua (Japanese: ヨシュア Jhosua) is the wayward prince of Jehanna, a desert country on the eastern edge of Magvel. He first appears in Chapter 5 of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, in which he is hired as a mercenary by Grado sent to kill Natasha. If Natasha survives, she can speak with Joshua and end up recruiting him.

Joshua's behavior makes it obvious that he is a gambler, deciding his fate with a flip of the coin. He enjoys spending time in arenas as well. Joshua also mentions to Natasha in a support conversation that he may appear cynical.

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

Role

Joshua first appears in the beginning of Chapter 5 as a mercenary hired by the Grado army to defeat Eirika's army. He speaks to Natasha, who quickly rushes past him. When Natasha speaks to him during the battle, he offers her to gamble. After losing the bet, he agrees to join her side and fight against Grado.

Joshua's mother, Ismaire, dies.

In Eirika's route, the group travels to Jehanna to warn them of the oncoming war. They arrive in Chapter 14, but as the battle ends, Queen Ismaire has already been fatally wounded. Surprisingly, she calls for Joshua, her son and apologizes for not being a good mother. He is revealed to be the prince of Jehanna and son of the queen, as they talk with her dying words. As she dies, she leaves him the sword Audhulma and the tome Excalibur, the two Sacred Twin relics of Jehanna.

Joshua reveals that he ran away in order to learn about the people of the world, to be worthy of the crown. Tired of palace life, ten years ago, he left the royal court under the guise of a gambling mercenary. However, he regrets this as he sits by his mother's side while she dies. Afterwards, he vows to take on the monarchy of Jehanna and defeat Grado along with Eirika of Renais, Innes of Frelia, and L'Arachel of Rausten.

In Ephraim's route, Caellach mentions that he and Joshua used to be friends and comrades during a brief conversation with Lyon in Chapter 15; if you have Joshua attack Caellach, he'll confirm that fact, and that they had parted ways two years ago; he'll also talk about how Caellach used to get into fights with him (Joshua) because of his (Caellach's) desire to become king; otherwise, Joshua's identity and backstory are not mentioned at all.

Starting stats and growth rates

Myrmidon
Level	5
Affinity

Recruitment: Chapter 5, talk to with Natasha

Stats Growth Rates

Max HP	24	Luck	7
Strength	8	Defense	5
Skill	13	Resistance	2
Speed	14	Constitution	8
Movement	5	Aid	7

Max HP	80%	Luck	30%
Strength	35%	Defense	20%
Skill	55%	Resistance	20%
Speed	55%

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Inventory
Killing Edge
Weapon Levels C -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Promotion stat gains

Class	HP	Str	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Con	Mov	Skills	Weapon level
Swordmaster	+5	+2	+0	+0	+0	+2	+1	+1	+1	Critical +15*	+40
Assassin	+3	+1	+0	+0	+0	+2	+2	+0	+1	Silencer	--

Analysis

This character analysis section may not be accurate to every player's experience.

Joshua joins as a level 5 Myrmidon. His main claim to fame is a base C-rank in swords, allowing him to use the Killing Edge in his inventory. He also has a very high base speed of 14 and skill of 13, making him very accurate and very fast. Joshua is fast enough to double most enemies he faces, even more than Seth, and with the Killing Edge, he can reliably one-round with a crit. This makes him valuable against some of the more difficult enemies, that most other units can struggle to one-round, especially in the early game.

Joshua's main disadvantage lies in his lack of 1-2 range, and also the lack of a mount. The Sacred Stones is a game that values mounts and 1-2 range, the cornerstones of good combat. Joshua has neither, which prevents him from countering ranged enemies on enemy phase. It also makes him fall behind the player's mounted frontline without rescue-dropping. Joshua offers nothing to compensate for these drawbacks. He is very good at using swords, but this means he can only fight well at 1-range. His base strength is alright, but his growth is mediocre, so he may not one-round without a crit. Joshua is competent enough at combat, but because of his limitations, he does not stand out after the early game aside from killing faster enemies or difficult bosses.

Joshua's promotion choice is between Assassin and Swordmaster. Swordmaster has more obvious benefits. It grants better statistical bonuses, most importantly strength, and +40 weapon experience in swords. The weapon experience lets him use stronger swords and circumvent his average strength. Swordmaster also grants a crit chance increase, which helps Joshua one-round enemies. Assassin offers fewer stat increases, and no weapon experience in swords. What it does have is the Silencer skill. Silencer allows Joshua to kill non-boss enemies in one hit half of the time he gets a critical hit. However, Assassin has no extra crit, so it will not activate reliably. Silencer is also of no combat benefit unless a critical would normally not kill. Swordmaster is the better option for this reason, as +15 critical helps more than Silencer.

Fire Emblem Engage

Role

Joshua appears as an equippable Bond Ring. He can be summoned using Eirika's Emblem Ring.

Bond Ring data

Stat modifiers Ring level HP Dex Spd C +0 +0 +1 B +0 +1 +1 A +2 +1 +1 S +2 +1 +2

Fire Emblem Heroes

Main article: Joshua/Heroes

There are three different variations of Joshua available in Heroes.

Personality

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Joshua says to Natasha in a support conversation that his personality makes him appear as if he is a cynical man. In support conversations with Artur, Innes, and Gerik it is shown Joshua has a tendency to cheat for victory in bets with shrewd trickery. He seems to show approval of Gerik in their A Support. In his support conversation with Natasha, he makes several bets to win her love. It is unknown whether or not Natasha won the bet with Joshua, as Joshua states: "I may cheat, but I never worm out of a bet. It's a rule of mine." It is plausible that he first showed affection for her and really didn't wish to harm her.

In a support conversation with Artur, he learns that Joshua has a hard time fighting mages, a common fault in myrmidons with their low resistance.

In Eirika's route, the group learns that Joshua is the prince of Jehanna. If Joshua is alive, Ismaire, Queen of Jehanna, has a brief conversation with Joshua in which he reveals that he left Jehanna to view the world as a man and not a prince; he states that his motives were to leave the castle walls to understand his people. He later states that he regrets not being with his mother. If he survives up until this point, the player will gain the sacred weapons of Jehanna, Audhulma and Excalibur, from her.

In Ephraim's route, the player learns that that Joshua had once been Caellach's best friend; but if and when they meet again on opposite sides of the battlefield, Joshua is well aware that Caellach just wants to be king of Jehanna (and in fact had wanted to be king for a long time) and refuses to let Caellach manipulate him to that end. Caellach calls him "a cold fish," to which Joshua replies that Caellach is "still as shameless as ever." Their conversation differs slightly depending on route.

Supports

Main article: Joshua/Supports

Joshua Myrmidon Natasha Cleric Initial: 20 Per turn:+3 Artur Monk Initial: 5 Per turn:+2 Marisa Myrmidon Initial: 10 Per turn:+3 [[{{{support7}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin7}}}affin.png|link={{{affin7}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints7}}} Per turn:+ [[{{{support9}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin9}}}affin.png|link={{{affin9}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints9}}} Per turn:+ Innes Sniper Initial: 0 Per turn:+2 L'Arachel Troubadour Initial: 5 Per turn:+2 Gerik Mercenary Initial: 15 Per turn:+3 [[{{{support8}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin8}}}affin.png|link={{{affin8}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints8}}} Per turn:+ [[{{{support10}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin10}}}affin.png|link={{{affin10}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints10}}} Per turn:+

See Support § GBA games for more details on supports.

Endings

Joshua, the Tempest King
Joshua returned to Jehanna and ruled over it as king. His skills as a leader had grown great, and Jehanna flourished as never before. He never outgrew his love of travel and games of chance.

Joshua and Gerik
After the war, Joshua challenged Gerik to a duel in hopes of pressing him to move to Jehanna. The match ended in a tie, but Gerik was impressed by Joshua's swagger. From that day forward, Gerik never left Joshua's side.

Joshua and Marisa
Joshua returned to Jehanna with Marisa, where she pledged service to the crown and became the top swordfighter in the land. Joshua still loved games of chance, but when it came to Marisa, she was ever the winner.

Joshua and Natasha
When Joshua returned to Jehanna, he took Natasha as his bride and claimed the throne as its rightful heir. Natasha was the perfect companion, and together, they carried the mighty desert nation to great glory.

Quotes

Battle quotes

“	Carlyle: You... Could it be? Joshua: Carlyle. How did this happen? You taught me how to wield a blade. You of all people... Carlyle: You've returned. But now... It's too late. It's far too late...	”	— Joshua fighting Carlyle

“	Joshua: Caellach. Caellach: Hey! If it isn't Joshua. It's been a long time. Have you been well? Joshua: I've been all right. Still working as a mercenary. When did you get all proper and join the Grado army? Caellach: Didn't I tell you? I wasn't about to waste my life as a nameless soldier. Still, I think back on those days a lot lately... My axe and your sword... The two of us were a deadly pair, eh? Joshua: ...... Caellach: By the way... I know all about you, Joshua. Who you really are I mean. The prince of Jehanna, huh? When did you plan on sharing the wealth, you sneaky dog? Joshua: Listen... You can't reduce a nation to loot waiting to be divided. And more importantly, I made a vow to my mother. I'm going to succeed her as ruler of my homeland. Hey Caellach... You're the one who killed my mother, aren't you? Caellach: Yeah... Sorry 'bout that. Things happen, you know? C'mon, Joshua, don't hate me. This is war. There's nothing you can do about it. Besides, grudges get in the way of work, right? Joshua: That's true. It's as you say. Listen Caellach... I've got to kill you now. Don't hold it against me. Caellach: You arrogant... You haven't changed a bit! I've always wanted to show you who's better, Joshua. And I'm even stronger than I used to be. I'm gonna wipe that smug look off your face for good!	”	— Joshua versus Caellach, in Eirika's route

“	Joshua: It's been a long time, Caellach. Caellach: Is that really you, Joshua? How long's it been? Joshua: About two years... What've you been doing? You know, that innkeeper's still mad you stiffed him. Caellach: Oh please... You telling me that old dog's still alive? ...How's the rest of the troop doing? Joshua: They're getting by. Some of them ended up feeding the crows, though... Caellach: Is that so? Those were good times, weren't they, Joshua? We were terrors on the battlefield and worse off it. Joshua: Yeah, we were. You'd get carried away and pick fights with me... You always said the same thing: "I will be King!" Caellach: Yeah, that's my dream. And I'll do anything to make it true. What do you say, Joshua? Let's team up again? Leave those losers you're with and work for me. Joshua: Sorry, can't do it. I'm not going to let you use me for anything. Caellach: Bah... You're a cold fish, aren't you. That's one thing that hasn't changed about you. Joshua: You haven't changed much either. You're still as shameless as ever. Caellach: Ha ha! That's the truth. Well... You want to get started? Joshua: Mm. Sure. Caellach: I'm stronger than I used to be. No offense, but you're not in my league anymore. Don't hate me, Joshua. Joshua: Same to you.	”	— Joshua versus Caellach, in Ephraim's route

Death quote

“	I... I guess my luck finally ran out... Heh.	”	— Joshua

Heroes quotes

Main article: Joshua/Quotes (Heroes)

Other appearances

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Joshua's official artwork from The Sacred Stones can be viewed in Path of Radiance's extras menu if a copy of The Sacred Stones is connected to a copy of Path of Radiance.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Joshua appears as a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

	Joshua from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Bonus: [Slash] Attack +9
Usable by: All

Fire Emblem Cipher

Joshua is featured on three cards in Fire Emblem Cipher.

Fire Emblem Cipher data for Joshua

Tempest King, Joshua
	"I will help defeat the empire. I will defend Jehanna and her allies. ...I know it doesn't sound like me, but..."
Attack: 70	Support: 10	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 4
Class: Swordmaster	Tier: Advanced	Class Change Cost: 3
Oath-Sworn Audhulma: [Trigger] [] When this unit's attack destroys an enemy, you may pay the cost and if you do: Choose 1 "Joshua" from your Retreat Area, and add it to your hand. "Let's have us a little wager.": [Activate] [Once per turn] Place a card from your hand on top of your deck. Your opponent declares a guess as to whether or not that card's unit name is "Joshua". Reveal that card, and if the opponent's guess is wrong, destroy your opponent's Main Character.
Card #B11-020SR • Artist: пNekoR

Prince of Jehanna, Joshua
	"I've got to kill you now. Don't hold it against me."
Attack: 60	Support: 10	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 3
Class: Swordmaster	Tier: Advanced	Class Change Cost: 2
Legacy-Carrying Sword: [Always] If this unit battles with the Main Character, this unit gains +10 attack. Winds of Fortune: [Trigger] If you destroy an enemy with this unit's attack, you may place a card in your Retreat Area on top of your deck.
Card #B11-021N • Artist: Yoneko

Gamble-Loving Mercenary, Joshua
	"Let's have us a little wager. If you win, I'll believe you. Heads or tails, you call it."
Attack: 40	Support: 10	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 1
Class: Myrmidon	Tier: Base	Class Change Cost: –
"Today's fortune is...": [Activate] [Once per turn] Reveal the top card of your deck. If the revealed card has the affinity, this unit gains +20 attack until the end of this turn. Send the revealed card to the Retreat Area afterwards. Attack Emblem: [Support] Until the end of this combat, your attacking unit gains +20 attack.
Card #B11-022HN • Artist: пNekoR

Some card information translation provided by Serenes Forest.
For more detailed strategic information on these cards, see their TCG wiki article on Joshua.

Flavor text

Game	Text (English)	Text (Japanese)
The Sacred Stones	A wandering swordsman from Jehanna. He loves to gamble.	ジャハナ王国出身の流浪の剣士 賭け事には目がない
Engage	Hero from beyond Elyos who is an easygoing swordsman. He loves gambling and makes any important decisions with a coin flip. He betrayed the Grado Empire based on a flipped coin. Appears in The Sacred Stones.	異界の英雄で、飄々とした性格の剣士。 賭け事が大好きで、大事な決定を 投げたコインの裏表で決める。 グラド帝国に傭兵として雇われていたが コインの賭けに従い、寝返った。 「聖魔の光石」

Trivia

• In the Japanese version of The Sacred Stones, Joshua tells Artur that Artur has won 15 times and lost 16 times out of 21 matches; the sum of winning and losing numbers does not equal the number of matches. The English version fixes this by having Joshua tell Artur that Artur has won 11 out of 21 matches.
• In the Japanese version of The Sacred Stones, Joshua will attack and kill Natasha while he is an enemy during Chapter 5 if she is in range. He does not do this in the international releases.
• According to Sachiko Wada, the reason she designed Joshua is because she wanted to create a character that wears a hat. She tried to shape his hat in a way that did not look or feel too modern.

Etymology and other languages

Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language	Name	Definition, etymology, and notes
English	Joshua	A Hebrew name meaning "Jehovah is salvation", "Yahweh is salvation", or "God rescues". Joshua was the helper of Moses who lead the Israelites through the Sinai wilderness. He was also one of the twelves spies who was sent by Moses into Canaan. He was appointed by God to continue leading the Israelites after Moses had passed.
Japanese	ヨシュア	Officially romanized as Jhosua.
Spanish	Joshua	--
French	Joshua	--
German	Joshua	--
Italian	Joshua	--
Portuguese (Brazil)	Joshua	--
Traditional Chinese	約書亞	Joshua

Gallery

Sprite Gallery
Myrmidon Assassin Swordmaster Sword Sword Sword

Official artwork

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  Artwork of Joshua from The Sacred Stones.

Battle animations

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  Joshua performing a critical hit with a sword as a Myrmidon in The Sacred Stones.
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  Joshua attacking with a sword as a Swordmaster in The Sacred Stones.
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  Joshua performing a critical hit with a sword as a Swordmaster in The Sacred Stones.
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  Joshua attacking with a sword as an Assassin in The Sacred Stones.
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  Joshua performing a critical hit with a sword as an Assassin in The Sacred Stones.

CG images

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  CG image of Joshua watching Ismaire die in The Sacred Stones.

Heroes artwork

Character artwork

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  Artwork of Joshua: Tempest King.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tempest King.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tempest King.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tempest King.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tropical Gambler.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tropical Gambler.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tropical Gambler.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tropical Gambler.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Resolute Tempest.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Resolute Tempest.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Resolute Tempest.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Resolute Tempest.

Meet some of the Heroes artwork

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  Artwork of Joshua: Tempest King.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tempest King.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tempest King.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tempest King.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tropical Gambler.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tropical Gambler.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tropical Gambler.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Tropical Gambler.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Resolute Tempest.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Resolute Tempest.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Resolute Tempest.
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  Artwork of Joshua: Resolute Tempest.
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  Joshua in artwork of Caellach: Tiger Eye.

Wallpapers

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  Wallpaper of Joshua: Tempest King from the A Hero Rises 2018 event.

Other artwork

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  Artwork featuring Joshua for Heroes's fifth anniversary.

Cipher artwork

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  Artwork of Joshua.
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  Artwork of Joshua.
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  Artwork of Joshua.

References

This article is part of Project Characters, a project focused on writing articles for every character present in the Fire Emblem series.