Joel Miller

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In a world where time makes no sense, Joel has patience to spare. He knows it when he sees it.

### Relations

Alex Churchland - Co-Partner
Georgy Hernandez - Acquaintance

❝ Since I... we met, things have been going real good for me. ❞
— **Joel Miller****Joel Miller** is the deuteragonist of LISA: The Pointless, first shown residing on the Scorched Cliffs of Garbage Island. For twelve years, he searched the landfill for a bullet that his weapon - a single-shot bolt-action pistol inherited from his grandfather - was chambered for.

Joel finally discovered the rare munition underneath the near-dead Alex Churchland. Joel nursed the dying man back to health, and from there, the two formed a bond. Joel would soon join Alex in his journey to find a better place.

## Battle

* Basics
* Skills
* Levels

*The level tab shows the stats for all **POSSIBLE** levels, not the absolute max for the party member.*

### Strategy

In combat, Joel utilizes intimidation techniques which employ the usage of his trademark firearm to strike fear into his opponents; though, due to the scarcity of his pistol's ammunition, Joel resolves never to fire his weapon unless under extreme circumstances. Because of this, he specializes in inflicting Status Effects on enemies by bluffing with the twirl of his pistol or a glare of the eye - never daring to *actually* shoot the bullet.

Though rarely directly attacking an enemy, he's an invaluable asset to the party. He helps Alex by shutting down an enemy with Scared and other debuffs, buying him enough time to heal or replenish SP, and/or allowing him to set up a devastating combo.

There are only two ways for the gunslinger to deal damage: one of which being throwing Empty Bottles and Bottles of Dirty Water. Massively effective within his hands due to his high ATK stat from The Bolt Action Pistol *(nearly triple that of Alex's),* but they are a rare commodity to come across, and should be used carefully.

The other way for him to deal damage is by the Pissed Status Effect. Although quite rare, due to only being able to obtain it by Sean Shawn, Chaz, Twisty, and the Shadowy Figures licking you, it can deal devastating amounts of damage, being able to deal over 1000 in the right circumstances.

### Victory Quotes

 * "I never miss!"
* "You twitched."
* "This is what you do with freedom?"
* "I am a kind man, pow-pow..."
* "Thought I quit the salvage game."

## Pre-Flash

All that is known of Joel Miller's life before the Flash is that he had a career painting kittens onto postcards and that he deeply admired his grandfather of whom he would often tell grandiose stories of his poaching adventures - Joel would also assert that he received his signature weapon from his grandfather.

## Story

Joel Miller, after the Flash, would later come to live on the Garbage Islands of Olathe in his quest for the bullet which was the only round capable of fitting his gun. Later, he would find his new partner Alex Churchland in addition to the round, and the duo would set off into mainland Olathe in Alex's search for The City.

After narrowly escaping a horde of violent gangsters belonging to the Infinity Franchise in Downtown Olathe, Joel Miller suffers a fall which leaves him with a set of broken ribs. Alex aids in his recovery. Afterward, they encounter a group of people traveling to the City, and all go to sleep before their last trek to the City. Unfortunately, Hugo Leopardi, an extremely violent man, slaughters the entirety of the travel party and nearly kills Alex before his associate and target Jason Pike gets him to stop stabbing Alex. Joel, depending on whether or not the player has treated him nicely as Alex, will either pull his gun on Hugo and fire only to discover that he had neglected to chamber the pistol, or simply grit his teeth. After binding Alex's wounds with the assistance of Jason Pike, the group travel to a bus -- owned by the Neon Flamingos - that is also heading for the City. In a stroke of luck, Alex and Joel are only allowed onto the bus due to the former's severe injuries.

## Relation Counter

Certain actions performed by the player can affect Joel's relationship with Alex. This 'Joelometer' is an invisible number that can go up and down, depending on which choices the player makes in certain situations. Actions that strengthen the bond between Alex and Joel ups the number - actions that sour standings decrease it.

### Effects

The current effect that is shown is when Jason Pike allows Hugo Leopardi to stab Alex. If this counter is ≥ 3 when Joel stands up and points his pistol at Hugo, he will attempt to fire the gun at him, even if the weapon isn't loaded. If the counter ≤ 2, Joel will not shoot his pistol, instead, lowering it while gritting his teeth.

### Events

* When Joel asks your name at the beginning of the game, remaining silent (picking the "..." option) **removes** 1 from the Joelometer.
* After Georgy leaves your party, selecting the option "You don't know what I'm after" **removes** 1 from the Joelometer. All other options do not affect the counter.
* Answering "No, I think that's cool" right after the previous moment adds 1 to the Joelometer.
* Hearing Joel's story about his granddad adds 1 to the Joelometer.
* Sharing the Antique Ham with Lester Bean adds 1 to the Joelometer.
* Watching the dinner scene in the Gambling Hall adds 1 to the Joelometer. (Specifically, when Alex asks Joel if he misses women.)
* Patching up Joel's Broken Bones in the Grouse Cave adds 3 to the Joelometer.

## Trivia

* Joel's appearance takes inspiration from two sources:
	+ His face is inspired by Lee Van Cleef in his role as Angel Eyes in *The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.*
	+ His outfit is based off of El Topo from the film for the same name.

## References

1. ↑ "Joel used to draw kittens for postcards" - Ed, 01-30-17
2. ↑ "... Joel's old occupation was painting kittens on really specific postcards" - Louise, 6-12-17
3. ↑ "Yeah [Joel is] lee van cleef" - frutzl, 09-09-17
4. ↑ Ed confirming the inspirations for Joel's design