Joshua Christopher

Early life

Joshua, with his sister Rosette, were brought to the Seventh Bell orphanage at the age of eleven and cared for by Miss Gene. Shortly after, he had discovered that he had the ability to heal and started to use his new found power. Although Joshua ‘looked on the bright side’ in most situations, his condition caused him to be confined to a bed. During this time, he became bitter on the inside and questioned why he could heal other people and not use his power for himself. Because of Joshua’s status of being an Apostle, the Order had decided to put him into protective custody, and Father Remington was set on the Order’s behalf. Although he spoke good things and most trusted him, Rosette didn’t trust him. She felt that he was going to take Joshua away (which was true). Led by this feeling, Rosette and Joshua entered the forest. Rosette and Joshua soon met Chrono, and eventually became good friends.

The night before Remington took him away, he heard a voice to come to the window. It was the sinner Aion in the form of an eagle. Aion offered Joshua power through horns that belonged to Chrono. He said it would give him the power that he wanted for so long. With his morale and beliefs weakened by his feelings and emotions, Joshua accepted the power of the horns. Joshua agonized and let out a scream as the horns took form. The others came to investigate, and Joshua exited the room with blood on his face and horns on his head, which caused the others to move back in horror. Joshua asked why everyone was moving away from him, and then the horns infused him with power. He then petrified an orphaned boy and realized that the noise would stop if he petrified everyone. Rosette and Chrono arrived at the scene, where they witnessed Joshua's terrible powers. After seeing his sister, Joshua told Rosette that she didn't need to become a doctor now that he was "cured." When Rosette told Joshua that she wanted him to be himself again, he temporarily regained his sanity and warned her and Chrono to get away before he petrified them too. Moments later he turned everything around him into stone.

Life with the Sinners

Years later, Joshua became a member of the Sinners. While cared for by Fiore, Satella’s older sister, he repeatedly states his utmost loyalty and adherence to Aion's plans. Later on, Joshua began to see Fiore as Rosette and forgot about his real sister completely. Although he was in good graces with Aion himself, the other Sinners despised him because he was human.

Later into the story, Joshua again meets Rosette but shows no recognition of her. As Rosette attempts to kill Aion, Joshua intercepts this. While partaking in the Ritual of Atonement, the noise he had heard at the orphanage returned again he targeted Rosette, believing her to be the cause of it. However, Chrono interferes and engage Joshua in a duel; the fight ends after Chrono removed the horns and Joshua was unconscious. Later, Fiore took him out and find Aion, Chrono and Azmaria quickly retrieved him.

In the last episode, Joshua is reverted back to his old self: a 12-year old trapped in a 16-year old body. In a twist of fate, he seems to have completely forgotten about his past memories, which seem to have been mixed up with his former dreams of exploring the Astral Line; his conscious seems to have recreated these memories as a fictional idea, which he now spends his days telling Remington about a boy, a girl and their friend's adventures, and how he plans on making it into a book. It is possible that Joshua may be twelve years old forever.

Manga differences

The main differences between the anime and manga Joshua lie in how he recovered after the horns are ripped off, also to detail why he needed by Aion. In the anime, Joshua's horns are ripped off by Chrono and his mental state diminishes to believing he's an 11 year old and having no memories of his past. In the manga, however, Rosette shoots one of Joshua's horns off, and after remembering the Seventh Bell incident and the promise he made with Rosette ("to grow up and being adults together"), he rips off the other, realizing that he should not depend on other's power to be an adult he hoped. Remembering everything, he and Rosette hug and he clutches her, apologizing for his actions. They both leave to fight the remainder of the battle in Eden; against Aion and the remaining sinners. In the epilogue, he is seen in his early 20's working for the Magdalene order. It is later implied that he's married to Azmaria Hendric.

Trivia

*In an interview with ADV Manga, when asked which character he related to the most, author Daisuke Moriyama replied that he relates to Joshua the most. This is because Joshua feels a gap between the person he wanted to be and the person he actually is, which are the same feelings Moriyama felt as a child.