Character Profile: Joe Thax

Where Ken is the restrained, rational type, Joe is exactly the opposite. Joe would just as soon set out to destroy every Galactor before Nambu thought to issue the order. This "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality constantly brings him to odds with Ken and occasionally gets the team into bigger trouble.

Joe's motivation is mainly revenge -- as a child, he watched as his parents were assassinated by a Galactor's bullet. He was almost killed himself, but was nursed back to health and taken in by Dr. Nambu, who trained him as one of the Science Ninjas.

With Ken's help, Joe eventually remembers that his parents were also Galactors, killed for turning traitor to the organization. This realization helps him to mellow a bit, sympathizing with those who may have family ties which keep them in Galactor. His dedication to the team, however, is never in question, as he risks his life time and again to put an end to the Galactor organization.

Joe is an accomplished racer and knows his way around a car. He has a soft spot for a pretty face, which gets him into trouble when Galactor women end up falling all over him.

The picture of Joe used in the profile came from Gatchaman I, ep 31. In the picture, Joe is about to confront (and kill) one of the Devil Star girls who's going to attack him with a rose bomb--the DSG were responsible for his parents' deaths. Right before he does it, he rolls the feather shuriken to the other side of his mouth and says "That rose--that's the rose bomb that killed my parents." Then he puts the shuriken in the poor girl's throat. They're both masked, so he doesn't know that he had a date with her the next day. He thinks he got blown off when she doesn't show.)