(Capcom's primary storyline)
"This is a farewell from the family, brother!" — Joe, moments before killing his mutated brother. |
Joe Baker is an American retired Marine and frontiersman from Dulvey Parish, Louisiana. Baker is one of several survivors of the 2014-2017 Baker House Incident, a series of mass killings committed by several Dulvey residents including three members of the Baker family. Baker was rescued by the BSAA during a clean-up operation after determining a link between the killings and a mind-altering fungus. Following this, his surviving niece, Zoe, the only other surviving member of the Baker family, was placed in protective custody.
Biography[]
Early life[]
As a child Baker lived at the Baker ranch in the Louisiana bayou, where he grew up alongside his brother, Jack. The two are known to have regularly fought, though after their service in the US Marine Corps they maintained familial ties to the area. While the ranch was inherited by Jack Baker and his wife Marguerite, Joe Baker himself chose to live as a frontiersman and set-up a shack in the bayou. Interaction between the two ended completely in October 2014, when the ranch was contaminated by Mold.
Baker House Incident[]
"What the hell you boys up to? Did you say Zoe? What the hell's wrong with her? Zoe! What in god's name have you done? " — A distraught Joe stumbles upon his crystallized niece and two BSAA operators. |
In July 2017, the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance began a major operation to destroy the Mold contamination in Dulvey Parish. This operation, which coincided with attempts by victims to break-out, resulted in the deaths of Marguerite and Lucas Baker, their adopted daughter Eveline, and the possible destruction of the Fungal Root growing out of a derelict LNG tanker in the bayou. Following this, a quarantine wall was constructed around the ranch in an ultimately failed attempt to prevent the spread of Mold.
Having had no contact with his family for three years, Baker himself was first made aware of the Mold contamination in August 2017 when he encountered a mutant alligator, which he assumed was either the result of unethical government-funded animal research or the side-effect of a terrorist incident. Rather than contact the authorities or leave the area, Baker chose instead to hold fort, and became highly distrustful of BSAA operations in the area, suspecting them to have an ulterior motive.[1] During one such night, two BSAA operators in the bayou identified the body of Zoe Baker, who had survived the attack on the ranch but was seriously ill. Baker ambushed the two in the misguided belief he was saving her from attackers (mistake the Blue Umbrella are Umbrella Corporation), and brought her back to his shack to rest along with a captured operator he interrogated for information.[2]
After learning of the Mold, Baker vowed to save Zoe by any cost, and quickly left and retrieved the cure whilst fighting various Molded along the way. Upon returning to his shack he found it set ablaze. Rushing back in to save Zoe, he administered the cure to her but was angered when it seemed to have no effect. The captive soldier explained that the cure was ineffective as it was only a partial dose, and volunteered to lead him back to his base for a full dose if he was set free, but he was soon grabbed through the wall and ripped in half by an entity revealed to be the Swamp Man. Joe was forced to flee with Zoe on his boat to look for the base.[3][4]
Further along the bayou, Joe came across an industrial makeshift quarantine wall set up on behalf of Blue Umbrella and discovered that the base the soldier had talked about had been overrun by Molded. He set aside Zoe to rest in the nearby boathouse and made his way into the camp, where he discovered that the cure had been stored in a nearby paddle boat. However, on his trek through the swamp and the boat, Joe once again encountered the Swamp Man as well as more Molded and some Mold-infected alligators. Joe was able to reach and operate the synthesizer for the cure, but was forced into another duel with the Swamp Man once he got his hands on the full dose he needed.[5] Joe successfully beat the Swamp Man by decapitating him with his bare hands and hurried back to Zoe to try and give her the cure,[6] but the Swamp Man simply re-emerged from the depths of the bayou and kidnapped Zoe, taking her through the now opened quarantine wall and forcing Joe to follow via boat.[7]
After brawling and scrapping his way through more Molded creatures in the swamp, Joe finally tracked Zoe to the old Dulvey Parish church, but ended up being ambushed by the Swamp Man. In his attempts to fight back, Joe tried to once again pull off the Swamp Man's head, but instead unmasked him and revealed the identity of the creature to be none other than his own brother Jack. Joe was so taken aback by the reveal that he let his guard down long enough for Jack to knock him out clean with one punch. Upon regaining consciousness, Joe soon found himself trapped in a coffin, and despite his pleas Jack pushed him into the waters of the swamp, leaving him to drown.[8]
Joe ends his brother's miserable existence.
However, Joe's coffin ended up washing up near the Baker ranch, and once he awoke he overheard chatter on a nearby radio from BSAA forces who were under attack from Jack at the main estate and were requesting reinforcements. Joe made his way towards the property, salvaging an AMG-78 power gauntlet from their belongings along the way in order to break into the grounds of the makeshift camp that had been set up in the courtyard of the estate.[9] Upon entering the main lobby of the main house, Joe found Zoe sat at a dinner table, but was soon jumped by Jack once again which forced him into one final confrontation with his brother.[10] Joe successfully used the power of the gauntlet to put an end to Jack's life once and for all, and finally got the chance to administer the full dose of the cure to Zoe just as Chris Redfield and his team arrived at the scene.[11]
After everyone had been moved out to a lab tent, the BSAA ensured that Zoe was fully cured. As Zoe expressed her relief to Joe that her nightmare was finally over, he comforted her by assuring that her family, especially her father Jack, had to have still loved her deep down despite their infection, even in their final days.[12]
Gameplay[]
Joe is the player character of the "End of Zoe" scenario in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. He has 20 inventory slots and starts off with Bare Fists and Joe's Survival Manual. Thus, Joe uniquely can use left and right punches and combos when no weapons (or the Bare Fists themselves) are equipped. He also has access to the finisher, stomp, and stealth kill melee prompts, and can still perform actions while moving through water.
Gallery[]
Sources[]
- ↑ Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), file; "Joe's Note".
- ↑ Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), scene: "End of Zoe opening".
- ↑ Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), scene: "End of Zoe scene 2".
- ↑ Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), scene: "End of Zoe scene 3".
- ↑ Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), scene: "End of Zoe scene 4".
- ↑ Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), scene: "End of Zoe scene 5".
- ↑ Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), scene: "End of Zoe scene 6".
- ↑ Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), scene: "End of Zoe scene 7".
- ↑ Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), scene: "End of Zoe scene 8".
- ↑ Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), scene: "End of Zoe scene 9".
- ↑ Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), scene: "End of Zoe scene 10".
- ↑ Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), scene: "End of Zoe ending".
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