Josef (Russian: Иосиф) is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series, appearing as a stranger/freak in Grand Theft Auto V.
Description
Josef is a bespectacled Russian man who is fanatically obsessed with America and, despite being an immigrant himself, has an intense hatred for Mexican immigrants. He justifies this at one point by saying that America was built for Europeans. Josef, along with his best friend Joe, form the Civil Border Patrol, a group dedicated to hunting down and deporting illegal immigrants, though most of the time they end up harassing legal citizens of the United States of Hispanic heritage.
Events of GTA V
Josef is first seen in the initial cutscene of the mission Trevor Philips Industries. He is in the middle of a bar fight with another man, until Trevor steps in and knock the other guy out and then asks Janet to ban Josef since he "won" the fight. Janet says that she can't do that because Josef is her husband, to Trevor's surprise. Janet also says that "the internet a beautiful thing". It could be interpreted by this that Josef got his American citizenship after meeting Janet on the internet and marrying her. Joe also says that he met Josef through the internet in the mission An American Welcome.
Some time later, during the Civil Border Patrol missions, Joe and Josef employ Trevor twice to help them hunt down supposed illegals. Trevor, being a Canadian immigrant himself dislikes the duo, but goes along with them because the monetary reward. After his second outing with the duo, Trevor re-encounters Manuel, one of the men arrested during his second tour with the Patrol, who was a legal resident of the US; his family having lived in San Andreas for two hundred years, well before it was incorporated into the US. Manuel shames Trevor for his actions and, in a regretful fit of rage, Trevor tracks down Joe and Josef to a nearby farm and attacks them. Josef tries to fight back with a Sawn-off Shotgun that he'd been previously using to threaten the Hispanic residents of the farm, but is ultimately killed. Soon after, Joe is killed as well.
Mission appearances
- GTA V
Trivia
- Josef mostly only speaks Russian, but manages to say "go car, go now" in English during An American Welcome.
- Despite being obsessed with the United States, Josef does not seem to have a very firm grasp on its history or culture as, during cutscenes, he makes proclamations like "God save the Queen" or "For King and Country", two chants which belong to the United Kingdom.
- During An American Welcome, Josef patrioticaly says "Liberty! Fraternity! Equality!", which is the official motto of France. This is another reference to Josef's bad grasp of American culture.
- Though Joe claims the Civil Border Patrol does not use lethal force, it was actually just in front of Trevor. When he was not around, Josef was seen threatening Hispanic farming family with a Sawn-off Shotgun during his final appearance in Minute Man Blues.
- At some point during The Civil Border Patrol mission, Trevor reminds Joe to tell Josef to stop saluting with his arm stretched, since it's a Nazi salute.
- It's unknown why Josef doesn't remember Trevor after winning the fight in the bar earlier, it was likely that either he was drunk or he was tired/injured after the fight in that mission.