Joshua Skye

**Joshua Skye** was a mysterious young man who would become after death the Conceptual Avatar of the Shadow Realm.

## Story

### Madness Unbound

Joshua was born blind in a middle-class family and sent to a specialized school. However, Joshua was also diagnosed with schizophrenia due to 'things' he could perceive that others couldn't; as a result, he was mocked and abused. In truth, Joshua was not insane : the voices in his head were those of the Shadows flocking around the others' impulses and hidden desires.

Joshua started being obsessed with truth, viewing others as dishonest, and believed others to be scared of their inner desires to the point of suppressing their visions of Shadows; he thus sought to force people to acknowledge their Shadows. This led to him violently assaulting another student, causing him to be sent to an asylum.

There, he was recruited by Gene Weisner who attempted to turn him into his pawn in order to sow chaos and manipulate the world; Gene hypnotized him, unsuccessfully so due to Joshua's blindness. Joshua however feigned being controlled and served Gene dutifully, using his influence to escape the asylum.

### Messiah of Chaos

Proclaiming himself a messiah, Joshua began sowing chaos in town just as Gene planned, using various tools such as Bombyx, an expensive dream-drug, in order to make people succumb to their inner Shadows and unleashing people's desires upon the world. This caused him to confront Melissa Powell and Risha Vayne several times, attempting to corrupt them and eventually awaking Melissa's past in the form of Viridi Powell.

Joshua also tricked Ten, a desperate man, by giving him the keys to kill Gene; planning that the ensuring war would unbalance all Mindscapes and allowing the Shadows to resurface, he threw himself in a final battle against Melissa and Risha, which he was instructed to lose and purposely lost, throwing himself off a building and dying at the end.

### Avatar of the Id

Shadows however resurrected Joshua, turning him into an all-powerful Avatar of the unconscious. As Joshua's plan fell into place, he attempted to invade Wonderland, forever tainting the mind of mankind, but he was stopped by Melissa and Risha in a final battle, and was forced to retreat as Mark Danaus, whom he had believed to be dead, resurfaced.

Joshua kept on making plans and manipulating between the scenes however; upon discovering the existence of David Noachia, Avatar of Masks, who served as a lock for the unconscious, he repeatedly attempted to kill him, first by turning Jonathan Wesson and Viridi against him.

As his plans were yet again foiled, Joshua opted for another method and ambushed David in the Videogame Realm, using his immense powers to corrupt data and turn David's protegees against him, giving Rainbow the Dark Confidant and later trapping Rainbow and her friends in a labyrinth of corruption, killing David should one of them fail to resist their inner voices; with Rainbow's courage, however, they all overcame it and Joshua was once again defeated.

### Shadowy Influence

In alternate Timelines, Joshua also helped Sigma several times, guiding the young woman and allowing her to accept her repressed truths, showing another side of his personality: more caring and genuinely seeking for mankind to improve in a positive way.

Upon learning of the creation of the Cheshire Isle, Joshua was naturally attracted to it, but Lily Evershire anticipated his move and sealed him away. Joshua was however quickly freed by Nahema Blanchebois who took an interest in him, showing understanding and compassion. Together, Joshua and Nahema hid in the shadows of the Cheshire and waited for occasions to restore the world's truths.

## Appearance

Joshua as a human was a blonde man with blank white eyes, dressing in a white toga despite living in the twenty-first century, showing his self-proclaimed status as a messiah. As a Conceptual Avatar however his body turned black and vaporous, and his hands became clawed; his eyes turned pitch-black, allowing him to see for the first time.

## Personality

Joshua is obsessed with truth and honesty, and believes that all lies are corruption of the society. This extends even to repressed feelings, which Joshua believes to be a representation of dishonesty - for Joshua, every single feeling should be expressed without fear or shame. Embracing the humanity's innermost, deepest and darkest desires, Joshua fancies himself a messiah, seeking to return mankind to a "primal state" of awakening and freedom.

Eerily serene and unambiguously destructive, Joshua revels in chaos and hatred, because he genuinely believes that they make for a better, "purer" world. To this aim, he is ready to make immense sacrifices, up to and including his own life. He is also immensely charismatic, allowing him to quickly recruit followers among those weak of heart.

## Powers

* **Keen Intellect:** A careful strategist, Joshua was able to plan the downfall of Wonderland by himself, playing Ten and Gene against each other, and can carefully identify one's psychological weaknesses in order to use them to his advantage.
* **Immense Charisma:** Joshua's soft voice and mesmeric mannerisms allow him to charm the weak of mind and those who doubt themselves, influencing them and causing them to willingly submit to Joshua's offer, releasing their inner demons.
* **Shadow Manipulation:** Joshua is able to manipulate repressed emotions in humans, controlling their behavior and "freeing" them from their inhibitions. In other Mindscapes, this is much more literal, as Shadows obey Joshua's command, even before he became their leader. Joshua can also sense hidden desires and thus "see" people, even when blind, by reading their forbidden desires.
* **Shapeshifting:** Joshua as a Shadow can turn into a variety of monstrous creatures derived from mankind's most primitive fears. This includes a variety of demons, predator-like monstrosities, and blasphemous, nightmarish beasts.

## Storylines

* Butterfly Effect features him as a central antagonist.
* Butterfly Effect II : Masquerade also shows him as a major antagonist.
* Butterfly Effect III : Loyalty features him opposing Rainbow's group.
* Memoria Valkyrie features him helping Sigma.
* Pokemon Hopes shows an alternate Joshua who manipulates Loste Woodrow in an attempt to sow chaos; his true aim is yet unknown, yet probably nefarious.

## Trivia

* Joshua Skye is actually a pseudonym, chosen by him to sound like a messiah; his true name is unknown.
* His theme songs, as chosen by his creator, are **White Rabbit** by Egypt Central and **Feel A Fear (Vocal)** from Guilty Gear.
* Joshua's philosophy is a dark take on Jean-Jacques Rousseau's ideas that human nature is good and that civilization is the cause of all injustice.
* He is probably known as one of the most iconic villains of the Multiverse.