Joseph Jobson

A demoniac hunter that appeared at the race circuit; although he does not attack human beings, he still became one of XAT's prioritized targets and spends the first half of the series as a lone, mysterious figure being hunted by both Amalgams and the police force. He is often seen either talking to Elea or whittling a statue of the Virgin Mary. Joseph Jobson was an Outsider that had been adopted by a church after his mother died frozen to death in the countryside. He spent his childhood in a tightly-knit community, helping the priest look after the other orphans' needs, tend to their home and helping people in need. After the nearby Jever river overflowed, the church became crowded with homeless citizens and wounded seeking refuge - the agitation eventually driving the old priest (who also was Joseph's paternal figure) to death by exhaustion. It was shortly thereafter that he met Magwald Xargin - then an enthusiastic researcher hoping to distribute medication to the impoverished population. It was through Xargin (and his hospitalization after the church was burned by xenophobic citizens) that Joseph met his elder sister, Alexandra 'Sasha' Jobson. For the next few weeks, Joseph developed a close friendship with Xargin, with whom he shared a deep desire to help those in need. However, the medication they provided to the bereaved population and Outsiders (even going as far as trying to smuggle them out of Xargin and Sasha's university - then led by Victor Statchus) proved ineffective and one night, Sasha was beaten to death by Outsider-hating citizens. It was then, through the letter that she had left behind, that Joseph learned that Sasha's research was primarily focusing on military-oriented cybernetics. After Xargin rebelled against Victor, Joseph tried to stop his erstwhile friend and was mortally wounded - however, in a last plea, Joseph tried to convince Xargin that life was still worth living. In response, the former scientist infected the teen with nanomachine-infested blood, turning him into an amalgam. The next day, Victor Statchus gave him the GARM motorcycle and entrusted him with tracking down the now renegade Magwald Xargin. Because he had been given Xargin's blood, Joseph is considered as a good candidate for the role of Blassreiter (the strongest Amalgam ever in existence); however, his extraordinary sense of self-control allows him to retain his sanity, at the cost of remaining weaker than other, more 'open-minded' opponents like Xargin or Beatrice. Years later, Joseph, now with a trademark scar running across his right eye, appeared at the circuit where Gerd Frentzen was competing in order to intercept a runaway Amalgam. The pursuit ends almost in tragedy and turns Gerd into an Amalgam. The change earns him both Gerd and Hermann's anger and although he only attacks Amalgams, he becomes one of XAT's primary targets (he then becomes known as 'Blue' due to his body color). It was after one of his run-ins with the police forces that he befriends Malek, Amanda's adopted brother, with whom he shares similar experiences of bullying and social isolation. Although Malek eventually becomes an Amalgam to sate his desire for justice, he nevertheless tries to bring the young boy back to his senses, even going as far as taking a bullet intended for him. Both were later captured by XAT and brought in for examination. Joseph's arrest was short-lived, though, as Elea freed him from the laboratory and allowed him to leave the compound in the middle of an Amalgam breakout. He later meets with Amanda, then (apparently) the only XAT survivor, before the two are taken in by the highly secretive Zwölf organization. He is then reunited with the revived Sasha (who now bore white hair and a cybernetic implant in her left eye) and agrees to receiving the Pale Horse physical enhancement program, which will theoretically allow him to develop greater strength at the cost of his own self-control. The experiment later proves successful, turning himself into a berserker-like Blassreiter, with red outlines instead of blue ones. In his Amalgam form, Joseph can make use of an energy whip, which he can also turn into a narrow-bladed sword. He also uses the GARM motorcycle (masquerading as a Yotsubishi custom model), which he can fuse with once in his Amalgam form.