| "Boom: Butterfly Effect." - Plot and ending details follow. |
|---|
| “ | I know we haven't been the best of friends lately... and I've been kinda messed up and everything... but I'm getting better, man... I swear! | ” |
— Josh
|
Joshua "Josh" Washington is one of the eight main protagonists and a playable character in Until Dawn. He is the older brother of Hannah and Beth Washington. After a prank caused the disappearance of his twin sisters, he invites his friends back to his family lodge a year later in an attempt to forget the tragedy. Unbeknownst to the group however, Josh planned a night of terror to exact revenge.
He was voiced and motion captured by actor Rami Malek.
Appearance[]
Josh is a young man with short brown hair and green eyes.
During the Prologue, Josh wears a gray sweater with a big white stripe on it and a pair of jeans.
A year later, he is seen wearing a knitted wool beanie and a sleeveless puffer jacket outside. Inside, he wears a dark brown shirt underneath a flat-collared blue and white plaid-styled unbuttoned shirt and a pair of jeans. He later dons a pair of overalls and receives a wound to his forehead and his neck.
Personality[]
| “ | We know he definitely can be depressed at some times, and a bit of a loner, but he takes some solace in one of his sister's friends, Sam, played by Hayden Panettiere. And he invites everybody back to the same house the next year to kind of find some closure. | ” |
— Rami Malek on Josh
|
Josh is described as persistent, creative and playful (thoughtful, loving and complex in the original game). Josh's interactions with the other group members tend to be humorous. He cares for his friends, acts as a brotherly figure to Chris, and likes to make sure everyone is having a good time. Josh has an ISFP personality type.[1] He loves his family, dislikes being bossed around, and dreams of becoming a film producer.[2] His dreams of following in his father's footsteps in becoming a film producer make him very knowledgeable about special effects and movie props and as such, he constantly uses phrases and words from movies.
Josh appears to be warm and accomodating, but his outgoing appearance masks a troubled history. After an incident at school, Josh was referred to a psychiatrist in 2006 and diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder at age 11. Over the following years, he was referred to a number of other medical professionals and prescribed a variety of antidepressant medications. However, the effects of the drugs tapered or simply failed to help Josh at all, forcing his doctors to continuously change prescriptions.[3]
When Josh welcomes his friends back to his family lodge, his warm personality is apparent, though, he does often show an inability to 'read the room', such as when he explicitly pushes Chris to make moves on Ashley, or when he urges the group to ''party like pornstars'' on the one-year anniversary of his sisters' disappearance, who he had a close bond with. Josh took their disappearance very badly: the event caused him to drop out of college and triggered his existing chronic depression. As this became more and more severe throughout the year before the events of Until Dawn, he turned to Sam for support. Medical records from around this time suggest he came dangerously close to committing suicide, and his delirious state resulted in him being committed to Oceanview Hospital for observation while his psychiatrist, Dr. Alan Hill, considered possible treatments. Though Josh was discharged two weeks later with a new prescription of the medication Phenelzine, he had changed: while appearing good-humored and sociable, he became consumed with the desire of taking revenge on his friends for causing his sisters' disappearance and stopped taking his medication.
Josh's desire for revenge is eventually put into action through his knowledge of movies and special effects. He fakes his own death and creates an alter ego: the Psycho. As the Psycho, Josh subjects some of his friends to various traps he put together. When he finally reveals himself to his friends, Josh shows a clear disconnect from reality - laughing off his last "prank" on Chris and Ashley, and gleefully telling them they will become internet sensations.
Josh's mental breakdown.
While Dr. Hill does exist, in the game he is a hallucination of Josh: this hallucinatory psychiatrist is an embodiment of Josh's self-loathing and guilt, as seen when he aggressively chastises Josh for his ''game'' or berates him for not saving his sisters, even though he was physically unable to do so. During Dr. Hill's therapy sessions, the player can choose Josh's anxieties and insecurities, but he has a canon fear of isolation. This fear eventually becomes reality when Josh is alone in the Wendigo's lair, confronted on all sides by hallucinatory visions of his sisters who accuse him of wanting them dead, which he tearfully denies, once again reflecting his overwhelming feelings of guilt and grief.
Until Dawn[]
Biography[]
Josh is the first child of movie mogul Bob Washington and his wife, Melinda. He, along with his family, would frequently travel to the family lodge located on Blackwood Mountain during each summer and winter. As he got older, his father became too busy to hang out with him, which brought him and his sisters closer together.
Josh was studying psychology at college prior to Hannah's and Beth's disappearance, which caused him to drop out. He has struggled to come to terms with the disappearance of his sisters.
A bit older than the rest of the group, Josh is something of an older brother figure to Chris. He loves taking the helm, organizing cool events, and making sure that everybody has an awesome time.
Josh definitely has a bit of a party-animal streak (honed in his freshman year), but his warm and friendly personality will win everybody around in the end.
Involvement[]
| Chapter Appearances | |
| Prologue: | Debut |
| Chapter 1: | Video |
| Chapter 2: | Appears |
| Chapter 3: | Appears |
| Chapter 4: | Appears |
| Chapter 5: | Video |
| Chapter 6: | Mentioned |
| Chapter 7: | Appears |
| Chapter 8: | Cameo |
| Chapter 9: | Cameo |
| Chapter 10: | Appears |
| Credits: | Determinant |
One Year Ago[]
In the remake[]
Josh moved to the sofa by his sisters.
In the original game[]
Josh and his sisters invited all of their closest friends to the mountain for a weekend of fun. As the night progressed, Josh, along with Chris, passed out from drinking heavily. Due to this, he was unaware of the impending prank on Hannah and was ultimately unable to intervene.Chapter 1[]
Josh recording his video.
Before the chapter opens, Sam is shown riding a bus to Blackwood Pines, while listening to a radio report of Hannah and Beth on her phone, who are still confirmed missing. After the broadcast, she presses the return button, and the screen cuts to Josh recording a video. After his failed intro, he starts again by happily welcoming all his friends back to the "annual Blackwood winter getaway". He then laments by saying that it won't be easy to return to the mountain after what happened the previous year and that it means so much to him that they're doing this and to Hannah and Beth because they're "all still together, thinking of them." His true goal is to spend some quality time with everyone and make it a night they'll never forget, for the sake of his sisters.
When Sam later meets up with Chris, they discuss Josh's state. They express admiration for how he deals with his situation, but Sam also questions if coming back was the right thing to do. Chris argues that he hasn't seen him so excited in forever.
Chapter 2[]
Josh returns to the lodge, happy to see that everyone else had decided to return as well. Delighted to see his friend Chris, they discover the door’s lock is frozen and he accompanies Chris to get inside the basement to find a way in. On the path, he talks to Chris about Ashley and partakes in a joke to "rip her parka right off her and make some snow angels," to which Chris can either agree with him or tell him to take it down a notch. Josh then asks him if he could "imagine a more perfect, ripe scenario, just dripping with erotic possibilities" as there are no parents around and that he's laid everything down for this moment, as Chris has been nothing but perfect to Ashley. Chris can then agree with him or disagree. No matter what, Josh finishes his part of the conversation by encouraging him to try.
After finding another entryway, Chris climbs through the basement window and ends up falling flat on his back, assuring Josh that's he's okay and that he should have paid more attention in climbing class, to which Josh replies by correcting him. After that, the light bulb suddenly bursts, catching them unaware and confused. Josh hands Chris a lighter and has an idea concerning a deodorant can in the bathroom. He tells Chris that if he uses the can and the lighter, he can make a flamethrower to thaw the lock. Chris understands and says that it reminds him of the plastic army soldiers they used to melt when they were younger.
Josh then tells Chris that he needs to check something and asks if he'll be up for a trip in the dark by himself. Chris responds that he isn't, but he'll still do it, and so, Josh leaves after saluting Chris. When the lodge entrance is open, Josh reappears just as Chris is being teased by Sam and Ashley for being frightened, once again by the baby wolverine, and adds in by saying that he shouldn't worry because he's "going to be a big boy soon."
After everyone's inside, Josh begins to light a fire for everyone but ends up having to stop either a physical dispute between Matt and Mike, or a catfight between Emily and Jessica. Irritated, he says that this isn't what he wanted and that if they all can't be together for one night then maybe they need a break. To diffuse the tension, he advises Mike and Jessica to find the guest cabin, while Matt and Emily leave the lodge to find Emily’s lost bag. He then asks Chris to find a spirit board for a little bit of fun, to which Ashley wholeheartedly agrees and goes to find it, with Chris following behind her. Once the fire's going, he descends into the basement with Sam, who came downstairs as there was no hot water left for her bath. As they attempt to start the water boiler, Sam hears a strange noise after Josh asks her to shine the torch his way so he can find the switch.
Josh and Sam following the noise in the basement.
When the boiler successfully works, the two can either share a high five, or Sam ignores him. Sometime after this, they hear a rhythmic noise which Sam describes as regular. Josh becomes anxious and tells her that there's nothing "regular" about it. Regardless of the choices at this point, a masked man, dressed in an old monk robe, jumps out on them and chases them all the way to the basement door as Sam tries to unlock it, much to her annoyance. Josh replies to her by saying they lock it to "keep out strangers." When the masked man stops in his tracks, Sam, regaining her breath, walks over in disbelief as the man reveals himself to be none other than Chris, who happily declares that they "just got monked." After Sam asks Josh if he was in on it, he denies his involvement by complementing Chris, saying that it was "too good" and later playfully teases Sam for being frightened by the experience.
After Mike and Jess leave the lodge, Josh follows them and hands them the keys to the cabin before departing again.
Chapter 3[]
Josh playing with the spirit board.
A few hours later, Josh, along with Chris and Ashley, play with the spirit board. Chris chooses Ashley to start them off as she is a "recent convert". After the cursor on the board replies by needing help, a scared Ashley asks who they are, per Chris' request. The board responds with one answer that startles them all: "sister." Now visibly distressed, Josh initially wants to find out more about what the spirit is saying.
Chris becomes very skeptical, but Josh tells him to shut up and tells Ashley to ask which sister they're speaking to. She can either choose to ask for Hannah or Beth, but the answer for either one is "yes". Chris then says that if this truly was one of the twins, they could finally tell them what happened the night they disappeared. When they ask the spirit, the cursor rapidly glides to different letters to make a plethora of words, such as "killed," "proof" and "library" as Chris correctly guesses the answers the spirit spells out. Just as the trio figure out the board's clues, the cursor suddenly flies off the table. The three feel different emotions: Chris is rather entertained while Ashley is shocked. Josh, on the other hand, becomes upset and annoyed with them. He wonders if it was a trick to make him deal with his grief. Ignoring their pleas of denial, Josh calls them ''full of it'' before storming off. Ashley then asks Chris if they should check up on him, to which he replies that he needs to left alone for a while.
Understanding his feelings concerning his sisters, Ashley states that she doesn't blame him for it. After some time, they follow the spirit's last words and head to the library, where they are able to pick up a clue in a hidden bookcase that makes them concerned. This makes them wander around the house looking for Josh. Not long after, Josh screams from the kitchen, and Ashley tries to break through the doors, only to be suddenly pulled in. Chris shouts her name and breaks through the seemingly locked doors and looks around for them. He momentarily sees Ashley lying on the floor, but a strange man suddenly appears and knocks him out.
Chapter 4[]
After waking up, Chris is slightly dazed with a large bruise on the left side of his head. Worried about his friends, he picks up a torch and follows down a pathway seemingly made for him. Along the way, his worries increase as he sees blood splatters on the walls and floorboards, Ashley's bloodied pouch and a pig head. He then approaches a shed and walks inside, shouting out Ashley's name. She then responds, frightened as to what's happening. He tries to reassure her before a light is suddenly turned on, revealing a contraption with Ashley and Josh, who is still unconscious, cuffed and chained to the front of a board. A disembodied voice emanates within the room which thanks the group for "joining him." Ashley, growing terrified, rouses Josh back to consciousness, and he too becomes confused and scared.
Josh and Ashley in the saw trap.
The voice then states to Chris that he must kill one of his friends to save the other. As he says this, a large mechanical saw fires up and proceeds across the rail to Ashley and Josh, who are both screaming to Chris to help them. Chris, struggling to focus, then decides to save one of them. At this point, the player's choice doesn't matter; Josh will be chosen to die. Feeling betrayed, Josh yells at Chris, asking why he did this and what he did to deserve it. The saw then dismembers Josh by the waist, his screams echoing within the shed and splatters a part of Ashley's body with his blood. Now that the "experiment" has finished, a door opens to let Chris out and help Ashley and tells her not to look, at which she shouts at him and just wants to get out. While walking away from the scene, Ashley accidentally looks at Josh's corpse and becomes racked with grief before the two make their way out of the shed.
Emily and Matt see them as they emerge down the path and run to them. Confused and worried, they ask them what happened. Chris, clearly distraught by the experience, tries to get his words out but just collapses and tells them about the "maniac" and Josh. Now knowing what they're up against, Emily and Matt tell them to go back to the lodge and find the others, while they find help.
Chapter 5[]
Ashley, Chris, and Josh are briefly mentioned by Matt and Emily as they discuss Josh's death and the mystery surrounding it. Emily asks Matt if they should have checked the shed to see if what they were saying was true.
Josh, as The Psycho, will later play a video of his "death" to Sam in the cinema room, causing her to scream out in fear, before chasing her around in the lodge and its basement. Depending on the player's choices, Sam will either evade him or be captured.
Chapter 6[]
Josh is mentioned numerous times by the other protagonists. While at the fire tower, Emily can tell the rangers about the maniac killing "one of her friends." Chris and Ashley will also mention Josh numerous times, most notably when Ashley thanks Chris for saving her life over Josh's. Apart from these mentions, Josh will watch Chris and Ashley closely as they make their way through the lodge and its basement in search of Sam. He scares them through props he remotely controls, such as lighting a candle as Ashley walks past it, and controlling a moving "ghost", terrifying Ashley and confusing Chris. When Ashley and Chris later find a tied up Sam, or a dummy in her clothes if she escaped, they will be captured by Josh as the Psycho, who chloroformes Chris with gas, before turning to Ashley. If Ashley has collected scissors from the basement, she will stab her attacker in the shoulder. Enraged, Josh will sucker-punch her unconscious, leaving her with a black eye.
During this time, Sam finds herself in Josh's lair, as a result of evading Josh or being captured by him. If she escaped him, she investigates the workshop, discovering several clues to the Psycho's true identity, including Josh's phone with a text exchange between him and his psychiatrist, Dr. Hill, a medical report and a voice recording. If she was captured, she is strapped to a chair and has to be rescued by Mike.
Chris and Ashley then awaken to find themselves strapped into chairs with a gun sitting on the table between them. Once again, Josh contacts them over a loudspeaker and orders Chris to take the gun and either shoot himself or Ashley, telling them the survivor can leave unharmed. The gun, however, has blanks - meaning that Chris shooting himself or Ashley won't be fatal. No sooner has Chris decided or Sam and Mike burst in, just in time to see the Psycho entering the room and unmasking himself - revealing himself as Josh.
Chapter 7[]
Josh reveals himself to be the masked maniac.
When Josh reveals himself to be the Psycho to a shocked Sam, Mike, Chris, and Ashley, Josh seems completely unaware of the serious impact of his pranks on the group and laughs. He concludes that his horror escapade was a way of getting revenge on his friends after their prank on his sisters the previous year, which caused their disappearance, and explains that he wanted his friends to experience the same feelings his sisters did. He clarifies how he's still alive: he had used a fake body back at the sawmill, and the saw was rigged to go to Josh no matter what Chris did, allowing him to fake his death and proceed as planned. Chris subtly defends Josh, stating "he's definitely off his meds", and "he's sick" when Mike gets angry.
After revealing his plan, which was to prank them on camera and release the footage on the internet to make them "internet sensations", Mike exclaims that Jessica is dead. Josh freezes and is visibly surprised by this, giving Mike the opportunity to knock him unconscious. He is led back to the shed by Chris and Mike and while they argue, Josh tries explaining he has no idea what happened to Jess. Josh slowly displays signs of instability, such as making strange, concerning comments and provoking to the two based on their past choices. He is tied to a support beam in the shed, and Mike stays with him, watching him babble various movie quotes while Chris returns to the lodge.
Chapter 8[]
During this time, Emily is fleeing from the Wendigo in the mines, either dying in the attempt or making it back to the lodge. In any event, her screams carry as far as the shed, prompting Mike to investigate and leaving Josh behind in the process. Soon after, the Stranger arrives to explain the true nature of the threat on the mountain.
After The Stranger informs the group about the Wendigo, Mike realizes he left Josh outside with the creature and notifies the group. It becomes clear Chris still considers Josh a friend, as he claims he is "letting him down" and is, regardless of Ashley's attempts to make him stay, convinced to rescue him. When the Stranger and Chris arrive at the shed, however, Josh is nowhere to be seen. The stool he was sitting on is broken, with a bloody puddle around it. Later in the chapter, it is revealed that a Wendigo dragged him away.
While the remaining group bunker down at Psycho's monitor room in the Old Hotel, they mention Josh, saying he would have the cable-car keys to leave the mountain. Emily points out the Wendigo could have brought him into the mine, its lair.
After the group leaves to find Mike, Josh is seen in Dr, Hill's "office", although now it is more like the forest on Blackwood Mountain, filled with trees and snow.[4] The man scolds Josh for what he's done, throughout the game and to his sisters, causing Josh sit with his head in his hands. Dr. Hill tells him everyone has left him because of his actions. After this, the dialogue between them can change slightly depending on whether or not the player chose they dislike Josh the most in Chapter 3.
Chapter 9[]
Josh is seen falling into the mines and landing unconscious.
Chapter 10[]
Josh found breaking down by Mike and Sam.
Josh was dragged across the mountain and dropped into the mines where he awakens. His fear of being alone combined with intense hallucinations cause him to have a complete nervous and mental breakdown. It becomes clear that his "sessions" with Dr. Hill were hallucinations, formed out of actual former sessions he had. Once Dr. Hill finally leaves him, Josh begins to have graphic visions of his sisters, offal, and sees some of his fears come to life. He screams at them, saying "I don't take orders from you", before seeing the huge head of a Wendigo move towards him.
Sam and Mike rescue him by following his screams and find him in a catatonic state before Mike snaps him out of it. Being unable to climb a rock face in his condition, Sam traverses up while he follows Mike through a room containing the bodies of the deceased and wade back through the underground lake Sam and Mike had. Mike and Josh are ambushed by Hannah, now a Wendigo, as she emerges from the surface and pulls Mike under, then grabs Josh. If Josh recognizes Hannah too late, she will kill him on the spot by crushing his skull. If the Scrawled Journal was found, however, Josh will shout out her name and Hannah recognizes him as well and spares him, dragging him away as Mike retreats.
Credits[]
In the remake[]
See Butterfly Effect A Second Chance.
As opposed to his two endings in the original game (death or his transformation into Wendigo), Josh can survive in the remake as a human if he showed remorse over his actions earlier. It is difficult to point out what exactly triggers the option for Josh to be remorseful, as the necessary decisions vary significantly and there are multiple different accounts given for how to get it. In order to get this ending, the following prerequisites must be fulfilled:
- During the therapy session with Dr Hill in Chapter Eight, pick "They hurt me" which unlocks the following option to say "I'm so sorry".
- In addition, Sam must find the journal Hannah wrote in the mines, as it will result in Josh being spared by Hannah due to the two recognizing each other.
- Nobody in the group, aside from the Stranger, was killed. Any of their deaths will result in Josh having a breakdown out of remorse and will result in him turning into a Wendigo regardless of whether he showed remorse earlier.
Josh, seeking redemption, is alive.
In the original game[]
If he was spared by Hannah, Josh will have no clue how to escape the cavernous mines. Completely mentally broken and isolated from all human contact (which is implied to be his greatest fear), Josh is overwhelmed with hunger as time passes, and he succumbs to the Wendigo Spirit. If anyone else survived the night, and thus talked to the police about the mines, Josh is discovered by two rangers cannibalizing the head of The Stranger, while he's in the process of turning into a Wendigo, before turning towards them, growling and presumably killing them. If nobody survived except Josh, the two rangers won't discover him, as they weren't given a lead to investigate the mines, but Josh will still cannibalize The Stranger, in the process of turning into a Wendigo, and look at the camera as the screen fades to black.Mentions[]
Josh can be mentioned by every single protagonist during the police interviews, except for Jessica.
- If Sam survived, she will tell the authorities that she thought that the two of them were close, due to Josh reaching out to Sam after the disappearance of Hannah and Beth.
- If Mike survived, he will tell the rangers that Josh was "out of his fucking mind" and that he thought that Josh attacked Jess.
- If Mike survived while Sam did not, he will indicate that Josh helped them with the key, but the Wendigo attacked them and then it took and possibly murdered Josh.
- If Matt survived while Sam, Mike and Jess did not, he will report that the "madman" killed Josh, not knowing that Josh himself was the "madman."
- If Emily survived while Sam, Mike, Jess and Matt did not, she will say that she did not see Josh in the lodge, so he must be in the mines instead.
- If Ashley survived and she stabbed Josh, she will express regret over stabbing Josh, but will then defend herself stating that she didn't know that the Psycho was Josh.
- If Ashley survived while Sam, Mike, Jess, Matt and Emily did not, she will state that the Wendigo most likely took Josh to the mines and that everyone was supposed to meet up.
- If Chris survived and he knocked Josh out in the shed, Chris will justify it by saying that he was acting like a maniac and trying to "fuck with their heads".
- If Chris survived while Sam, Mike, Jess, Matt, Emily and Ashley did not, he will express deep sadness about his unknown whereabouts. He'll state that a Wendigo taking Josh down to the mines is the only thing that makes sense.
Possible Death[]
| Possible Death | |||
| Chapter | Event | Caused by | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Head crushed | Hannah (Wendigo) | Sam did not find the Scrawled Journal; Josh recognized Hannah too late. |
Relationships[]
Hannah[]
See Hannah and Josh for more information.
Hannah and Beth place Josh on the couch.
Hannah was Josh's younger sister and the two, as well as Beth, had a very close bond. After Josh's father got too busy to hang out with him, Josh spent a lot of time with his sisters. He is shown to love Hannah very much, as evidenced by the engraved jewelry box he gave her and his distress over learning what happened to her. Hannah writes in her diary about Josh's mental struggles and hospital visit, expressing sadness for his situation. His hallucination in Chapter 10 shows that he feels heavy sorrow and guilt over his sisters' disappearance.
If Sam finds the Scrawled Journal, Josh may potentially recognize Hannah even in her Wendigo state, leading her to also recognizing and sparing him, which indicates they still have a bond even after Hannah has lost most of her humanity. However, if Josh did not hear the truth of what happened to her, he will be too late in recognizing her and will be killed by his sister as a Wendigo.
Beth[]
Beth is shown to have trusted and cared for Josh. They were apparently very close, as evidenced by the pictures the player can find laying around of the three siblings together. After she discovers Mike's note to Hannah, she has the option to try to wake Josh, who passed out after drinking too much, to help her. Before her disappearance, she found Josh's drunken state to be amusing, commenting "once again, brother, you've outdone us all." Josh is shown to feel very sorrowful and guilty over Beth's death.
Ashley[]
Ashley is the main focus of Josh's teasing towards Chris. He knows Chris has feelings for her, and often jokingly criticizes him for not taking the first step. Josh and Ashley seem to be close friends, continuously spending time together in the lodge. Ashley and Chris seem to be the main victims of Josh's taunting, as she will be knocked out by Josh as the Psycho, and be tied up next to him in the shed. Chris can choose to save her, leaving Josh behind with betrayed feelings. He will continue to prank the two as they explore the basement and Ashley seems mortified as he reveals himself as the Psycho, arguing with Chris to stay in the lodge because he let everyone down.
Relationship Increases
- If Ashley is apologetic during the séance, his relationship with Ashley will slightly increase.
- If Josh prefers Ashley over Chris, his relationship with Ashley will slightly increase.
Relationship Decreases
Chris[]
See Chris and Josh for more information.
Chris is Josh's best friend, having known each other since third grade. Josh's highest relationship status is with Chris. Joking around together often, Josh will tease Chris' aversion to pursuing his feelings for Ashley, to which Chris can respond positively or negatively. Josh often encourages him to make a move, even going as far as manipulating situations so that the two end up alone together. Even during the interrogation in the shed, Chris can either defend Josh by being skeptical about him killing Jess or act in aggression towards him, specifically punching him the face if he punched Ashley. It's worth noting that even though the saw trap is rigged to bisect Josh regardless of the player's choice, Josh will still feel betrayed by Chris if he chooses to save Ashley instead, and will berate him about Ashley while being interrogated.
Regardless of whether or not Chris is angered by Josh during the interrogation, he will still insist on going back to save him at the realization of them leaving him out for the Wendigo's picking. He reasons that whether or not Josh had wronged them, he owes it to him, as his best friend, to rescue him.
Relationship Increases
- If Chris worries about Josh, his relationship with Chris will slightly increase.
- If Chris agrees with Josh about Ashley on both occasions, his relationship with Chris will increase.
- However, If Chris agrees with Josh about Ashley on only one occasion, his relationship with Chris will only slightly increase.
- If Josh prefers Chris over Ashley, his relationship with Chris will slightly increase.
- If Chris decides to save Josh, his relationship with Chris will slightly increase.
- If Chris scolds Josh and is skeptical about Josh hurting Jessica afterward, his relationship with Chris will slightly increase.
- If Chris disarms Mike, his relationship with Chris will slightly increase.
Relationship Decreases
Emily[]
Josh is the only protagonist who doesn't directly interact with Emily throughout the game, but the two have a lower relationship presumably due to Emily's heavy involvement in the prank and Josh's disfavor of bossy types. Despite that, Josh does not actively make Emily a subject of his traps - though this may be because she leaves the lodge early on. He does watch her and Matt through the monitors, leaves behind a threatening note for them and wrecks the cable car station so that they are unable to leave the mountain. Early on, he stops her argument with Jessica, and Emily will later express shock and disbelief after hearing about Josh's ''death''. She later explains to Mike and possibly the police officers that the Wendigo may have taken him down to the mine after his attack.
Relationship Increases
- If Josh prefers Emily over Matt, his relationship with Emily will slightly increase.
Relationship Decreases
Jessica[]
Josh has a fairly amicable relationship with Jessica, despite her being the one who organized the prank on Hannah. Josh breaks up Jess' fight with Emily and sends her and Mike off to the cabin, perhaps with the intention of pranking them, though this never happens due to Jess being abducted (and potentially killed) by a Wendigo. Mike will knock Josh out because he believes him to be her killer and will tie him up in the shed. After being tied up in the shed, Josh will tauntingly tell Mike that Jess has a "tight bod"; however, he will be shocked and apologetic when Mike accuses him of killing her, denying profusely that he touched her, indicating he did care about Jess's well-being and had no desire to see her come to harm.
Relationship Increases
- If Josh prefers Jessica over Mike, his relationship with Jessica will slightly increase.
Relationship Decreases
Matt[]
Matt and Josh's relationship status isn't among the highest. On Josh's end, his relationship with Matt is the lowest. This may be due to Matt filming the prank on Hannah. Still, the two act in a friendly manner towards each other. Josh greets Matt and Ashley on the lodge's steps at the start of the game and asks how their journey was. If Matt saw Mike and Emily through the telescope, he will be visibly upset, making Josh wonder what is up with him. Matt later offers to help Josh with the fire in the lodge, but will be cut short by Emily. Josh also breaks up Matt's fight with Mike (if it happens), while Matt expresses concern after Josh's "death" and can also mention Josh during his interview, believing he had been killed by the "psycho" (as he is unaware that Josh actually is the Psycho), indicating that Matt at least cares about Josh and vice versa.
Relationship Increases
- If Matt saw Mike and Emily flirting, challenges Mike, but then apologizes afterward, his relationship with Matt will slightly increase.
- If Josh prefers Matt over Emily, his relationship with Matt will slightly increase.
Relationship Decreases
Mike[]
Josh does not seem to blame Mike for the disappearances of Hannah and Beth. He still jokes around with him and Jessica, even though they and Emily were the most involved in the prank against Hannah. Josh may also break up Matt's fight with Mike, where he will send him and Jess to the cabin. However, when revealing himself as the Psycho, Mike will become furious, convinced Josh killed Jess. When Josh is saved in the mines by Sam and Mike and the latter got him out of his trance, it seems he still sees Mike as a close friend.
Relationship Increases
- If Josh prefers Mike over Jessica, his relationship with Mike will slightly increase.
Relationship Decreases
Sam[]
See Josh and Sam for more information.
Josh and Sam are close friends. Sam is Josh's second-highest relationship, tied with Ashley and Jess. After the disappearance of Josh's sisters, Josh and Sam leaned on each other for support for their mutual loss of people close to them. During a quiet moment when the two are alone, he thanks her for coming to the annual meet-up. Josh likes to tease Sam, and occasionally makes jokes like asking if she needs help with the bath.
He scares Sam along with Chris and Ashley as part of his revenge scheme, not only showing her footage of himself being sawed in half but also chasing her around the lodge while dressed as the Psycho. If Sam escapes him, she can uncover clues that lead her to discover Josh is in fact the Psycho. When he reveals himself, she will then note that his fingerprints were all over it, and that he wanted to get caught as a cry for help.
Sam is later shown feeling betrayed by Josh's actions in an interview with a police officer, revealing that she thought they had a connection through the loss of the twins.
Relationship Increases
- If Sam chooses to be serious upon picking up the baseball bat, his relationship with Sam will slightly increase.
- If Sam chooses to be heroic when checking out the noise in the basement, his relationship with Sam will increase.
- If Josh prefers Sam over himself, his relationship with Sam will slightly increase.
Relationship Decreases
Trivia[]
Playability[]
- Josh is the last character able to be played.
- The played character in Dr. Hill's therapy sessions is revealed to be Josh.
- Josh is only playable in one chapter (Chapter 10).
- Josh appears in all chapters, including his appearances as The Psycho. However, Josh himself only makes full appearances in 5 chapters, not counting cameos or videos.
- Josh is the only protagonist to not make a physical appearance in Chapter 1, but he appears in video form before the Chapter 1 title card appears.
Totems[]
- Josh can find one totem in Chapter 10.
- In the remake, however, Josh can find two totems.
Clues[]
Facts[]
- His dream job is a film producer.
- He loves his family and hates being bossed around.
- He is voted most likely to work in the film industry.[5]
- In ten years, he sees himself having a good time.
- Josh's favorite quote is by Francis Ford Coppola: "It takes no imagination to live within your means."
- His highest trait is funny.
- His intermediate traits are honest, charitable, and curious.
- His lowest traits are brave and romantic.
- Josh is the most funny and one of the least brave and romantic out of all the protagonists.
- His highest base relationship status is with Chris.
- His lowest base relationship status is with Matt.
- Josh is the oldest member of the group, at 20 years old.
- Depending on the player's choices, Josh has either fear of isolation, darkness, failure, or the supernatural.
- Josh is affected by 3 Butterfly Effect segments.
- This makes him the least affected protagonist.
Medical History[]
- As seen in the Psychiatric Report found by Sam (if she successfully evades capture), Josh was referred to a psychiatrist due to an incident at his school at age 11. From then on, he began to take multiple types of antidepressants: Fluoxetine, Duloxetine and Amitriptyline. Josh, however, reported that none of the medication was working and that he was experiencing side effects. Nine years later, after the disappearance of his sisters, his depression worsened, to the point that his psychiatrists recommended ECT. Instead, he began taking stronger medication, Phenelzine, which he later stopped taking, causing him to suffer withdrawal symptoms.
- The same psychiatric report shows that Josh attempted suicide and began overdosing on his medication after Hannah and Beth's disappearance.
- Josh's eventual prescribed dose of Phenelzine was 90 mg, which is higher than the average dose (60 mg) as well as the highest possible (maximum) dose in general.[6]
- Josh shows additional symptoms that are not typical of depression, such as suffering from delusion/detachment from reality, disorganized speech, and visual and auditory hallucinations. The cause of Josh's symptoms could be the following things:
- His symptoms are likely the cause of him withdrawing from his medicine, as they match the withdrawal symptoms of Phenelzine. Josh dismisses Dr. Hill’s question if he still takes his medication, and Chris notes “he’s definitely off his meds.” It can be assumed that Josh stopped taking his medication, and that is where most, if not all, of his later behavior comes from. Given that Phenelzine's half-life is approximately 11 hours, it is likely that he stopped taking his medication sometime before the events on Blackwood Mountain.
- Josh could also have been misdiagnosed. The Psychiatric Report states that Josh complained to his doctors that his medications weren’t working. The medications could have been ineffective due to him possessing a second mental illness that the psychiatrists weren't entirely aware of. Many fans theorize that his second mental illness is schizophrenia, a brain disorder that involves disassociation from reality. Its symptoms are also visual and auditory hallucinations, delusions, social withdrawal/paranoia, and disorganized speech. Both schizophrenia and depression can cause psychosis.
- A combination of the two.
Deaths[]
- Josh is the sixth protagonist who can die.
- Josh is one of three characters that can only be killed in Chapter 10. The other two are Sam and Mike.
- Josh is one of the four protagonists - the others being Chris, Jessica, and Matt - who may only be killed outside the lodge, meaning that their bodies won't be found unless the police go down to the mines, which requires at least one protagonist to survive (except Josh).
- Josh can only be killed one way; having his head crushed by Hannah.
- Josh is one of the six protagonists - the others being Emily, Chris, Jessica, Mike and Ashley - who can be killed by another protagonist. In Josh's case, Sam miss the Scrawled Journal in Chapter 10.
- Finding a clue is essential to ensure Josh's survival.
- He is the only character that requires a clue for him to live.
Trophies[]
- In the original game, Josh has no trophies relating to him,
- ”The Psycho Path” relates to his Psycho persona.
- In the remake, he has two:
- ''We Need To Talk About Josh,” given if the player gives Josh his best ending (an ending only possible in the remake).
- This is a reference to the film We Need to Talk About Kevin.
- ''Our Host”, given when Josh is revealed as the Psycho.
- This is a reference to the film The Host.
- ''We Need To Talk About Josh,” given if the player gives Josh his best ending (an ending only possible in the remake).
Other[]
- He is the only protagonist who is not interviewed by the police if he survives.
- Josh is the only protagonist who cannot have a sole survivor ending as a human, as the survival of his friends is necessary for him to not turn to cannibalism. He can, however, be sole survivor as a Wendigo.
- Not counting the scene where he is recording his video (which appears before the Chapter 1 title card), Josh is the only character that is introduced in Chapter 2.
- While creating his story surrounding the Psycho, Josh tried to convince his friends that an escaped convict named Victor Milgram was loose on the mountain, who swore revenge on the Washington family for supposedly getting him fired from his job in the 90s. In reality, Victor Milgram was a deceased janitor who worked for the Blackwood Pines Hotel in the 1950s and makes an appearance in The Inpatient. Josh likely found him through records, and even copied his entire outfit for The Psycho, meaning that Josh somehow must have gotten a photograph of the real Victor Milgram. He even uses his mask to make it look like he has Victor’s long hair.
- If you choose Josh as your most disliked character in Dr. Hill's session, he will comment on you "being full of surprises." During Chapter 8, Hill will hold Josh accountable for that, claiming he despises himself.
- If Chris chose to shoot Ashley, Josh will comment that she's better off with Mike, as he "knows how to treat a lady... Hint: It's not to shoot her in the face." This is rather ironic (and perhaps a bit of foreshadowing), seeing as Mike may later shoot Emily in the face if she was bitten by a Wendigo.
- Josh and Ashley are the only characters without "Don't Move" segments. This makes them the only protagonists unable to die by failing QTE or "Don't Move" segments.
- Josh's psychiatric report was sent to Bob Washington's film corporation, Washington Pictures Incorporated, in Valley Town, Burbank California. Thus it is likely the Washingtons live here.
- In Chapter 2, Josh may tell Sam that he and his dad used to play baseball together before he got too busy to hang out with Josh. In the remake, his lost baseball can be found by Mike on his way to the guest cabin.
- In Chapter 1 of the remake, Sam or Chris can find writing on Chris' truck that says "Chris 4 Josh" encircled by a heart.
- In the PS4 alpha version of Until Dawn, Josh wore a necklace with a J-shaped pendant. This can be seen in early press presentations and renders, but was removed during development.[7]
- One of his quotes, "Godspeed, pilgrim!", is a reference to famous western actor John Wayne.
- Josh has unused dialogue where he is goofing off with Chris, and more unused dialogue where Chris asks to borrow Josh’s phone, presumably before they break into the lodge.
- Another piece of unused dialogue where he talks to Sam in the basement, and to Chris about the old movie props lying around.
- More unused dialogue where Josh tries to guilt-trip Chris for tying him up.
- Josh, Emily, and Jessica are the only protagonists to have no deliberate killed victims.
- Josh and Emily are the only protagonists to have no killed victims.
- Josh’s voice and motion capture actor, Rami Malek, coincidentally played a man named Dr. Hill in Oppenheimer.
- While hallucinating his sisters in the mine, Josh also says "I swear I tried to find you" in the remake, while in the original game he only says "I didn't want you to die, I swear".
Quotes[]
- "Let's party like we're fucking porn stars!"
- "When are you gonna take her to the bone zone?"
- "I DID something! I made you believe in the world I created, and I showed you parts of yourself you were too afraid to visit!"
- "I said you're a dummy, dummy."
- "Oooh! Sleepover! C-can we order pizza?"
Prologue[]
The character has no notable quotes in this chapter.
Chapter 1[]
- "Let’s party like we’re fucking porn stars, okay?" - Josh in Sam's video.
Chapter 2[]
- "Ashley was looking pretty hot today, right? She's like a "sleeper hit" kinda gal, you know?... Now I just wanna rip that parka right off her... make some snow angels. Right? (...) When are you gonna take her to the bone zone?" - Josh teasing Chris.
- "So how are we planning on breaking into my parents' lodge, bud?"
- "Wait, I didn't say I had a plan-" - Chris
- "You sounded like you had a plan. You better deliver, Cochise, or else you got four lovely ladies who are gonna be freezing their buns off, and last time I checked, that's not a good way to get laid." - Josh
- "I swear, they just need like, something to bond over, ya' know? Some sort of traumatic event to send them into each other's arms. And, knowing Chris, we'll be in the geriatric ward before Chris makes a move." - Josh conversing about Ashley and Chris' relationship with Sam.
- "Um... I want us to have a good time, you know..."
- "Nah, nah, come on, I've been down here plenty of times, big ole' lodge has got to belch out sometimes."
Chapter 3[]
"Listen, I don't know... I don't know if you think messing with me is somehow going to help me with my grief or whatever but this is not cool. I don't need this right now, okay?!! You guys are full of it!" - Josh upset over the Ouija Board.
Chapter 4[]
- "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! LET ME DOWN FROM HERE YOU MANIAC! Shit... shit... no! Okay... okay... okay... okay, this is gonna be okay... Dude... buddy... Let's just think about this for a minute..." - Josh in The Psycho's trap.
- "Bro! Bro, we've been through so much, come on... I don't wanna go out like this...! I know... I know we haven't been the best of friends lately... and I've been kinda messed up and everything... but I'm getting better, man... I swear!"
- "I thought we were FRIENDS man! I thought we were FRIENDS why would you DO THIS!?" - before his death
Chapter 5[]
The character does not appear in this chapter.
Chapter 6[]
The character does not appear in this chapter.
Chapter 7[]
- "How does it feel? Do you enjoy feeling terrorized? Humiliated? I mean, panicked? All those emotions that my sisters got to feel once one year ago! Only guess what? They didn't get to laugh it off! No! Nope! No no no! They're gone!"" - Josh after revealing himself as the Psycho.
- "Hook, line and sinker, for every little stinker!"
- "Oh sure. I'm totally just crying out for help. 'Help me! Oh help me! Help help!'"
- "Revenge is the best medicine!"
- "I'm a healer, man! I bring people together! Not like you assholes."
- "I DID something- I MADE you believe in the world I created and I showed you parts of yourself you were too afraid to visit!"
- "Right, right right right... still... can't tie 'em up if they just wiggle around. Leave me a little wiggle room, huh." - after being tied up in the Shed.
- "'I never imagined in my wildest dreams that you liked me...!'"
- "Stop." - Chris
- "You know what that sound is? It's the sound of never kissing Ashley, you pussy!"
- "Stop!" - Chris
- "Yeah, you know? You might as well let Ashley sleep with Mike, I mean, at least he's got some notches on his belt, you know? He'll treat her right! You're fucking pathetic, Christopher!" - Josh antagonizing Chris.
- "Oh, you poor little piggies, can't even get their good cop bad cop routine to work. Leave it to the pros, bros."
- "Oooh! Sleepover! C-can we order pizza?"
Chapter 8[]
The character has no notable quotes in this chapter.
Chapter 9[]
The character has no notable quotes in this chapter.
Chapter 10[]
- "No! You're dead! You're dead!!! Shut up! I don't take orders from you... you can't tell me what to do... okay... okay... I trust you... I trust you..." - Josh hallucinating in the mines.
- "I didn't want you to die- I swear!!" - Josh expressing sorrow and guilt when being tormented by hallucinations of his sisters.
- "NO! NO! Why are you doing this?! Leave me alone!! Why are you doing this?!"
- "NO you're not real! No, you're not... Hannah!" - Josh recognizing his sister.
Credits[]
The character has no notable quotes in this chapter.
Gallery
References[]
- ↑ According to Dr. Hill's notes. ISFP is a personality type standing for the Introverted, Sensing, Feeling and Perceiving traits.
- ↑ Josh's character profile in the Your Companion app.
- ↑ As seen in the Psychiatric Report.
- ↑ Each time the player enters a therapy session it takes place wherever Josh is at that time.
- ↑ By his classmates, as seen in the yearbook page included in the Press Kit Edition.
- ↑ Mayo Clinic: "The dose is usually not more than 90 mg per day."
- ↑ Josh's necklace
Characters
| |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protagonists | |||||||
 Sam |
 Mike |
 Josh |
 Ashley |
 Chris |
 Emily |
 Matt |
 Jessica |
| Supporting Characters | |||||||
 Hannah |
 Beth |
 The Psycho |
 Wendigos |
 Dr. Hill |
 Jack |
 Wolfie |
 Minor Characters |