Palawa Joko

This article is about the undead king. For the actor at the Garden of Seborhin, see Palawa Joko (actor). For the imposter, see Definitely Not Joko.

Palawa Joko

Race

Awakened

Profession

Necromancer

Rank

Legendary

Location

Mad King's Labyrinth
(Mad King's Realm)
Twilight Oasis Fractal
(Fractals of the Mists)

Image(s)

Concept art by Carlyn Lim.

“

Gods, dragons, nations—soon all will grovel at the feet of Palawa Joko!

— Palawa Joko

Palawa Ignacious Joko (also known as King Joko the Inevitable, the last Primeval King, Joko the Undying, the Scourge of Vabbi, Joko the Feared, Joko the Beloved, Joko the Transcendent, and Joko the Eternal Monarch of All) is a powerful undead lich who has built an empire situated within the southern reaches of the Crystal Desert. He is the latest sovereign of Elona, enforcing his iron fisted rule with an Awakened undead army, Joko Loyalists, and the Mordant Crescent.

In 1330 AE, Joko aids the former god Balthazar in collecting souls for his Forged army, but is trapped within the Domain of the Lost. Following Balthazar's demise, Joko manages to escape his prison, kidnapping the asuran prodigy Taimi and after attempting to unleash the Scarab Plague on Tyria, is devoured by Aurene. In 1334 AE, what may be Joko's spirit is brought to the Mad King's Labyrinth to entertain Mad King Thorn.

Biography

Early years

The past of Palawa Ignacious Joko remains elusive regarding his life before becoming undead and during his early years as a lich. Joko himself has presented various contradictory arguments on his origins, claiming to be the last of the Primeval Kings as well as having lived so long ago that the fig leaf was in style. Mad King Thorn's Lunatic Courtiers, however, suggest offhand that Palawa Joko and King Thorn knew each other in life.

According to the Private Property of P.I. Joko written by young "Iggy", however, Joko appears to have been the son of an Elonian diplomat (with the province of origin unknown) in the eighth century AE. In his youth, he accompanied his mother on her diplomatic tours and visited Kryta where, while suffering from boredom, he met with young Prince Oswald Thorn who was already showing signs of violence. Viewing the young Thorn ripping wings off of flies as amateurish for not utilizing torture to its fullest extent, Joko secretly taught the prince what creatures would survive torture and be of use afterwards, with the wording suggesting that Thorn should direct his sadism towards his servants instead. The young Thorn challenged Joko to a pun contest much to the latter's horror, and the pranks escalated into a clash between the two youths, the first battle to take place between the future lich king and Mad King.

Joko eventually began studying necromancy. According to The Diary of Palawa Ignacious Joko, the 17-year-old Joko viewed his fellow necromancer student Zuri as his first true rival. Enraged at Zuri challenging him for the premiere place by their teacher's side and for daring to question his skills, Joko resorted to stabbing Zuri in the back, killing him. Joko eventually left to pursue the path of the necromancer elsewhere, believing that his teacher had nothing left to offer him. This path would eventually lead him into becoming a lich.

The Scourge of Vabbi

The earliest known mention of Joko with a date is in 757 AE, when he constructed the Bone Palace in the Desolation, a sulfurous wasteland where only demons and the undead could survive, although he had discovered a way for the living to enter this area unscathed. At some point he had seemingly discovered forbidden scriptures of the fallen god Abaddon and eventually sealed them in coffers which were hidden deep within the Vehjin Mines. However, scriptures found in at least one of the coffers turned out to be instructions to find a powerful wish-granting djinn in the Forum Highlands. Whether Joko ever approached the djinn, who would only grant a wish once every hundred years, and what he may have asked for if he did, remains unknown.

In these early years, Joko feuded with Mad King Thorn of Kryta, with some squabbles nearly escalating into a full-scale war. Some time after Thorn's death circa 825 AE, Joko discovered much to his disappointment that Thorn lingered on as a spirit lord in the Mad Realm and that death had not changed the Mad King's horrid personality—or his puns—to be any more bearable. The rivalry between the two now undead tyrants continued.

In 860 AE, Joko commanded hordes of Awakened followers raised from ancient tombs and made his move to expand his territory. The king of Sahlahja resisted Joko's advance for years until he died and was succeeded by his son, Prince Sahlahjar. When the new king was suddenly forced to lead a kingdom and face Joko's impending assault, the inexperienced Sahlahjar gave into his fears and cut a deal with the lich: in exchange for serving Joko, he asked his people to be spared. Shortly after the deal, however, Sahlahjar's citadel was overrun by the Awakened who killed everyone, including the king. Joko later reanimated Sahlahjar as his court jester, forcing the former king to serve him forever in death.

Intent on conquering Vabbi and using its riches to make himself even more powerful, Joko began the next stage of his campaign. He cautiously infiltrated the unsuspecting province through the Vehjin Mines and caught Vabbian defenders by surprise. With lightning-fast raids, Joko captured wealthy estates, driving his enemies before him. His victories and eventual subjugation of the province earned him the sobriquet Scourge of Vabbi.

With Vabbi under his control, Joko began a ruthless and systematic conquest of the rest of the nation, piece by piece. A unified Elona might have stopped him there, but the princes of Vabbi hid, and the Istani Sunspears proved too few and too divided to halt the lich's relentless assault. Over many months, Joko drove back the armies of Elona, growing stronger with each victory. He proclaimed himself the nation's sovereign, beginning an era of tyranny and oppression. By 862 AE, the Kournan army had been reduced to a struggling rebellion, an alliance of fugitives led by a single renegade warmarshal: Turai Ossa.

Battle of Jahai

Warmarshal Turai Ossa and King Joko duel above the Battle of Jahai.

Using the desperate tactics of hit-and-run warfare, Warmarshal Turai hunted Joko's army wherever possible, but his forces were eventually surrounded near the Grand Cataract of Jahai, where they prepared to make their final stand against Joko's army which consisted of Awakened and corsair mercenaries. Turai's scouts learned that Joko had insufficiently garrisoned his flank in his hurry to crush the resistance, however, and Turai believed a small but powerful group might be able to fight its way through and slay the lich while the rest of the army held the line against the Awakened horde.

The resulting Battle of Jahai lasted for days; each time night fell, the battleground remained unchanged, as neither army gave ground to the other. Turai's squad was ultimately able to reach Joko's camp just in time to witness the lich gloating about his impending victory. Playing to Joko's vanity, Turai challenged him to single combat. The lich could not resist the urge to fell the Warmarshal personally, and the two leaders faced off high above the warring armies. There, in full view of their respective followers, Turai bested Joko, and the undead lord fell from his lofty height. On the plains below, the resolve of the unliving hordes wavered and broke. Turai's forces cheered at the defeat of the enemy leader as they cut down the fleeing undead legions.

Though beaten, Joko could not be slain. Turai's bodyguards used powerful magic to bind the lich within a great tomb, and eventually built a huge stone plinth commemorating the victory at Jahai Bluffs while forming the Order of Whispers to watch over the tomb. There, Joko would lie forgotten, trapped with his hatred and weakness. As centuries passed, however, Joko's legend would live on, and many villainous individuals attempted to commune with the spirit of the Scourge of Vabbi.

Return of the undead king

Centuries later, Turai Ossa's descendant, Warmarshal Varesh Ossa, attempted to summon the dark god Abaddon and bring about Nightfall. The weakening of reality freed Joko, who fled to the Sulfurous Wastelands after being disturbed by Spearmarshal Kormir of the Order of the Sunspears, who had dreamed that the Sunspears must travel to the monument to Joko's defeat to see what awaited them there. Being buried and bound for so long had cost Joko all of his power, however, so he was easily caught by the Veldrunner centaurs shortly after his attempted escape.

The centaurs' Sunspear companions promised the lich freedom in exchange for knowledge on how mortals could traverse the Desolation. Joko revealed that this was possible using great Junundu wurms, and with the help of the Sunspears and heroes he regained some control of his army and retook the Bone Palace from Varesh's rear Vanguard. With his base of operations secure, the lich focused his efforts on crushing the remaining rebellious Awakened generals and reuniting his scattered army under his banner.

Kormir's rise to godhood upon the defeat of Abaddon in 1075 AE was a blessing to the Sunspears and a beacon of hope to people across Tyria. Although her new power was a boon to those who followed her, it also ignited a jealousy that would lead to the downfall of the Order of the Sunspears. Ever an enemy, Palawa Joko's resolve to wipe them out intensified. Ruining the Sunspears, whose Spearmarshal had reached such great heights, would bolster Joko's ego and help secure his position as a true threat to Elona.

Following his release, Joko briefly visited norn lands and took part in Magni the Bison's Fighting Tournament. Recordings left by the renowned asuran golemancer Zinn hint that, around this time, it may have been Joko or an agent of his that commissioned the golems N.O.X., P.O.X., and R.O.X., which attempted to assassinate the leaders of the great human kingdoms of the world—Emperor Kisu of Cantha, Princess Salma of Kryta, and Princes Ahmtur, Bokka and Mehtu of Vabbi—in order to destablize those kingdoms. This suggests that Joko was actively working toward his conquest of Elona only a few short years after his release.

Conqueror of Elona

By 1093 AE, Palawa Joko had recuperated much of what remained of his forces. He began sending raiding parties into the borders of Vabbi, abducting citizens to further grow his army. Despite this, the Vabbian princes had refrained from acting out against Joko, while the Order of the Sunspears, still undermanned after the Battle of Gandara, only patrolled the borders, believing Joko would remain content to stay in the Desolation. By the end of the year, Koss Dejarin and Lonai, two famed Sunspears from the war against Abaddon, had mustered a group to confront Joko at the Bone Palace. The assault failed, and Koss and Lonai were turned into Awakened—the other Sunspears' fate remains unknown.

In 1135 AE, Palawa Joko put his true plan into motion. He began to spread lies across the nation, diminishing confidence in the Sunspears. Following this, he launched his invasion. Having learned from his past mistakes, Joko dammed and diverted the Elon River, which both supplied his desolate domain with precious water and simultaneously deprived Kourna and Vabbi of that same resource. His forces burned crops and salted the soil, furthering the provinces' inability to grow food. At the same time, Joko's army placed bounties on the Sunspears, and the people, starved and disillusioned, began to seek the bounties out. Many Sunspears, fearing being villainized by the people they had sworn to protect, or enticed by Joko's offers of power and riches, betrayed the Order and became the first of the Mordant Crescent.

Starved and faced with a devastating drought and famine, the people of Vabbi and northern Kourna rebelled against their leaders, comfortably allowing Joko to crush any Elonian resistance. Vabbi surrendered in desperation, while Kourna and Istan later became vassal states to the undead lord who subsequently renamed the Istani capital of Kamadan as Palawadan, Jewel of Istan in his honor. By 1175 AE, Elona had fallen to Joko's armies. During this time Joko's forces hunted down and enslaved local centaurs, using them as work force. The lich king killed many enslaved centaurs to further his experiments in bone manipulation, and ultimately used their bones to expand the Bone Palace.

With his position secure, Joko found and crippled Tahlkora, the last Spearmarshal of the Sunspears, by taking out her tongue and eyes as he wanted to stop her rebellious writings without turning her into a martyr for the remaining Sunspears to rally behind. When Tahlkora continued her defiance, the lich had her brought before him and resorted to killing and Awakening her so he could control her that way. However, much to both Joko and Tahlkora's surprise, the Awakened Tahlkora did not succumb to Joko's will unlike other Awakened before her. In frustration, Joko took away all but the tiniest spark of Awakening from Tahlkora and left the Spearmarshal's trapped spirit within her immobile Awakened body to rot on the remote Yahnur Plateau.

Founding an Empire

Statue of Palawa Joko in front of the Necropolis.

After conquering Elona, Joko forced tributes and loyalty from the Elonians, training them to accept him as the rightful ruler of Elona and promising wealth and fortune to those who joined his forces, with the ultimate honor being an eternity of servitude in undeath. The lich king had a harem of both men and women of various races in the Forbidden Vault, demanding their hand in marriage in exchange for protecting their respective communities; some of these betrothed joined the harem out of obligation while others were tricked or sold there. Joko also had all of the Ossa bloodline brought to him, creating a living army to rival his undead one, and took pleasure in the irony of their servitude.

Along with this, Joko continued the defamation and destruction of the Sunspears, granting his new recruits prominent roles within his army. Those who did not betray their vows were killed and recruited into the Mordant Crescent all the same as undead, and the Sunspears were scattered to the winds, leaving the survivors to travel as secretive hermits.

To bolster his already big ego and cement his position in Elona in order to elevate himself above the Sunspears and the former rulers of the three provinces, the lich king commissioned architects to build several statues in his honor throughout his united kingdom, the most grandiose being the Colossus of Palawadan in Istan, the Great Palawa Joko Monument in Vabbi, and the Triumph of Palawa Joko in the Elon Riverlands. The old monument which the Order of Whispers had once dedicated to Joko's defeat and entombment was renamed the Monument to the Return of Palawa Joko to show the Eternal King's triumph over his enemies.

With his conquest over Elona completed, Joko began rewriting history books, declaring that he had gifted magic to the races (including sylvari, when they were discovered), defeated Turai Ossa rather than the other way around, and even slain Abaddon and taken the fallen god's power. In doing this, the lich king had outlawed all accurate history books, and burned the Holdings of Chokhin to the ground. All places of learning became heavily monitored by the Awakened, especially in Vabbi. This false history was spread across Elona as full out truth, and those claiming otherwise were branded as heretics and traitors. Any who did not support the "god-king of Elona, the Crystal Desert, and all their environs" were exiled to prison farms, if not outright killed and, sometimes, Awakened into forced servitude.

At an unknown point in time, Joko had also developed new necromantic magic, which is why he had become so uniquely powerful. He was subtle about this new magic at first, but eventually his greed overcame him and he began to teach these practices to other necromancers, dubbing them scourges after himself. However, these necromancers realized the intention of these teachings and the exploiting of souls it would lead to, and rebelled against him so as to not further Elona's desecration. Some scourges remained in Elona with the intention of using Joko's own teachings against him, and took his teachings even further. Joko also showed interest in the Scarab Plague of the past, and he and his army used dark magic resembling it to frighten their opposition.

When Joko conquered Elona, Central Tyria had cut off all official contact and banned travel to the Crystal Desert and Elona. Despite this, some small groups as well as the Durmand Priory had managed excursions into the Crystal Desert, and those who knew of the Order of Whispers knew that they retained access to Elona as well. Refugees would occasionally manage to escape Elona and reach Central Tyria, though the last group of such refugees had arrived around 1275 AE. With the rise of the Elder Dragons Zhaitan and Kralkatorrik, contact with Elona was further cut off. The Desert Gate, the main land route into the Crystal Desert from Ascalon, was sealed by order of Queen Jennah.

Path of Fire

Joko's banner, displayed throughout his kingdom.

After the deaths of Zhaitan and Mordremoth, Kralkatorrik flew south to Vabbi. In 1330 AE, the rogue god Balthazar returned to the world in order to defeat the Elder Dragons and take their power. The ensuing chaos allowed Elonians to flee as far as Kryta for the first time in at least 50 years, with many disillusioned defectors attempting to escape north to the Free City of Amnoon and beyond.

The re-establishment of contact with Elona revealed how much control Joko exerted over his kingdom. Joko's northern domain had become enclosed by the Bone Wall with only the work farms along the Elon (where prisoners and exiles were sent) remaining outside. Even those loyal to Joko's regime could end up in these farms if Joko's whims demanded it, though many offered themselves or their loved ones as concubines in the hope of sparing their families.

The spread of propaganda promoting Joko as a god-king had furthered during the later years of his reign, expanding to Joko being the source behind not just Zhaitan's death, but Mordremoth's as well. The people of Elona were taught to honor the act of being Awakened, and to see it as their duty to yearn for such a "gloried" position. Citizens of Vabbi, perhaps all of Elona, were subject to continuous announcements by the Awakened Affirmation System promoting King Joko's ideals, teachings, and wants of the people, furthering to aid the brainwashing of the nation.

Balthazar approached Joko to find souls for his Forged army. In exchange for a share of the new recruits, Joko agreed. Together, they journeyed to the hidden city of Kesho to learn the Forgotten's magic of binding souls to armor, and then Joko guided Balthazar to the Domain of the Lost where those who had died traumatic deaths and forgotten themselves ended up before they could move on to their rightful resting place. Instead of fulfilling his end of the deal, however, Balthazar imprisoned the lich king in a cell in the Domain of the Lost with magic too strong for even Grenth's Judge to break.

When the Pact Commander arrived in the Domain of the Lost, Joko tried to bargain with them, pointing out that it would not be possible to defeat the Forged without the help of his Awakened army. The Commander refused the bargain and hatched a plan to seize control of Joko's army, who followed the Mordant Crescent in Joko's absence. Joko was last seen imprisoned in the Domain of the Lost, swearing to take revenge on those who had put him there, who had left him there, and who had dared take advantage of his absence.

Living World Season 4

Daybreak

After Balthazar's death, Palawa Joko escaped the Domain of the Lost and returned to Elona. He was initially angry at the Pact Commander for leaving him behind and deceiving the Awakened army to fight at Kodash Bazaar, and turned more serious as a result while plotting his revenge. Upon his return, the lich king placed a bounty on the Pact Commander, though those who knew of Joko's imprisonment believed him to be an impostor. It was not until the Commander heard Joko's own voice over Taimi's communication device that Dragon's Watch finally believed Joko's return to be truth. Joko's propaganda had also furthered to proclaim that he was the one to defeat Balthazar atop Kodash Bazaar.

As the Commander traversed the Domain of Istan aiding Spearmarshal Zaeim's Sunspear rebellion, Joko kidnapped Taimi and brought her to Fahranur, the First City of the Primeval Kings where an ancient Rata Novan lab was. At an unknown point in time, the Inquest had discovered this lab which had been subsequently overrun by the Awakened. However, Joko did not have the knowledge to access the full lab. For this, he interrogated Taimi, threatening her with being made an Awakened to get her compliance.

With full access to the lab, Joko began a full-scale invasion on Central Tyria through the asura gates in Fahranur and another Elonian Inquest lab which did not need an exit gate at the destination (much like the Inquest's prototype Gate Keno Decca Five). To justify Elona's act of aggression against Tyria, Joko used the Commander's trickery over using his Awakened army against Balthazar in Kodash as a declaration of war.

With Taimi having outlived her usefulness, Joko had Awakened Inquest lock her into Scruffy 2.0 and disable the golem's controls, intending for Taimi to suffocate inside while forcing the Commander to fight against the reprogrammed golem and watch her die an agonizing death. By the time the Commander's party reached the city and saved Taimi from the death trap, Joko and a mysterious figure had left Fahranur for an unknown destination.

A Bug in the System

While the destruction of the Fahranur gates did slow down Joko's assault, he had found yet another gate hub in Rata Primus to launch his attacks. However, the gate hub was not his primary reason for assaulting the massive Inquest base. Instead, Joko was looking to obtain their research on the Scarab Plague. He was personally on hand to collect the research in 1331 AE and, in an uncharacteristic move, chose not to gloat. Instead Joko made the Pact Commander's party watch his hasty departure with the plague samples, which he intended to unleash on Central Tyria, and left Commander Lonai, the mysterious figure from Fahranur, behind to finish the party off. Joko would eventually learn that the Commander had successfully defeated Lonai and escaped from the trap, however.

Long Live the Lich

Upon entering the Domain of Kourna, Joko rallied his forces and ordered Beastmarshal Oluwa Eranko and Troopmarshal Olori Ogun to defend Gandara, the Moon Fortress where he attempted to unleash a third generation Scarab Plague upon the world after an earlier, failed attempt in Amnoon during which he had goaded the Pact Commander to meet him in combat in Gandara. He felt in control again and began joking at his enemies' expense, taking great pleasure in intimidating his Kournan subjects via announcements projected from various Joko statues found throughout the region.

Joko meets Aurene.

The Pact Commander, together with the forces of Primeval Queens Dahlah and Nahlah, the Olmakhan, the Sunspears, corsairs and volunteers from Amnoon and Tyria, successfully snuck into Kourna through a portal and established a foothold, eventually assaulting Gandara to stop the plague from being spread. While the rest of the allied army was busy either fighting the Awakened or containing the plague, the Commander and Braham entered the Moon Fortress via its sewers and were welcomed by projections of Joko who kept taunting them with illusions, traps, minions, and quips.

By this time Joko had become obsessed with the Commander, who had thwarted his schemes over and over again, and began viewing the Commander as a worthy nemesis whose demise he would savor. When the Commander and Braham reached him, the lich king revealed that the gauntlet he had put the pair through had been a trap to lure the Commander to him so he could end the hero's quest personally. However, Braham managed to take the Commander's place in the trap Joko had devised, leaving the Commander and Joko to duel.

After a lengthy clash during which Joko sent various minions and even scarabs against the Commander, the lich king was defeated. With nearby Awakened paralyzed and the traps disabled, the Commander and Braham believed that Joko's claims of immortality had been a ruse and that the Eternal King was truly dead. However, Joko caught the pair off-guard when he suddenly revived and trapped them in a paralyzing spell. Satisfied, the lich king gave a grand monologue about his and the Commander's roles as hero and villain. He pointed out the disastrous consequences of killing Balthazar and two Elder Dragons and how he would be viewed as a hero for slaying the Commander whose actions had brought Tyria closer to destruction. Before Joko had the chance to execute the Commander and Braham, however, the dragon Aurene suddenly flew in and came to the pair's rescue, devouring the surprised lich. The reign of Palawa Joko, the God-King of Elona, had come to a sudden and definite end.

Legacy

Living World Season 4

While exploring Kourna after Joko's demise, the Commander discovered a statue with a voiced message which the late lich king had recorded during the assault on Gandara. In his message Joko mused about the origins of the universe and himself, and how he had supposedly been responsible for the creation of the gods and turning Kralkatorrik into an Elder Dragon.

Joko's death in the Battle of Gandara left a power vacuum in the United Kingdom of Elona and allowed the Awakened to gain freedom; however, many Awakened openly mourned the passing of their Eternal King and remained uncertain of their future despite efforts to ensure their safety in the changing political landscape. Several competing factions—including the Free Awakened, Joko Loyalists, the Mordant Crescent, the Order of Shadows, and the Order of the Sunspears—emerged to decide the future of the shattered nation at a summit in the Fortress of Jahai.

Meanwhile, opportunists such as an Awakened mesmer, who posed as Joko, appeared to the hopeful and confused Awakened in an effort to sway the Awakened to follow them, justifying these actions with the belief that Elonians were sheep who needed a wolf, Palawa Joko, to both lead them and keep order in the lich king's crumbling empire which was suffering from increased raids by Kralkatorrik's Branded. Ultimately most factions decided to put their differences aside and collaborate to build a new Elona, leaving Palawa Joko's reign behind them and facing a brighter future.

During the Halloween following the peace summit at Jahai, Brigadier General Kernel recruited the Pact Commander to aid with a scheme to gather various objects of "evidence" to make Mad King Thorn think that Joko was still active despite his Awakened troops' lessening presence; if Thorn ever learned the truth of his archrival's death, his mad tantrum could have disastrous consequences to everyone involved in both the Mad Realm and Tyria. The Commander tracked down trophies of the feud between Joko and Thorn around Elona and the Mad Realm. Once all the trophies had been collected, the Mad King's minions presented a trophy shelf which contained Joko's tomes seized from the fallen lich king's armies. Some of the private journals found among the tomes shed some light on Joko's past and proved that many of his boasts had been mere fabrications to boost his ego.

Consuming Joko's lich magic granted Aurene the powers of resurrection, allowing her to return to life in 1332 AE after Kralkatorrik had killed her in the battle of Thunderhead Keep. Aurene's return made Braham openly praise Joko for actually contributing something good to the world for a change after centuries of evil deeds.

Shadow of the Mad King 2021

Mad King Thorn and the ghost of Palawa Joko, towering above the Mad King's Labyrinth as they argue.

By the Halloween of 1334 AE, however, Thorn grew suspicious of Joko's lack of activity, which prompted the Lunatic Court's emergency task force to find a means to bring Joko's spirit to the Mad King's Labyrinth somehow to appease the mad monarch. What seemed to be the spirit of Joko himself did eventually appear in the Mad King's Labyrinth, prompting King Thorn to replace his previous bantering partner, Bloody Prince Thorn, with Joko at the center of the labyrinth much to the prince's annoyance. Thorn and Joko began exchanging taunts with gusto, and Joko appeared to enjoy his time both bullying Thorn while being simultaneously annoyed by the Mad King's pranks and puns. Curious of these developments due to having witnessed Aurene devouring Joko in Gandara, the Pact Commander sought out members of the task force to press them for information. The task force's testimonies differed wildly from one another, however, leading to multiple conflicting theories to consider.

In a report to Magister Tassi, the Commander had to choose which of the many theories for Joko's return they supported the most: the spirit could be the real Joko who had naturally passed on to the Mad Realm as his madness and ego would have drawn him there, a fragment of Joko's soul either recovered by the courtiers via a ritual or which had escaped death on its own when Aurene had devoured him, leftover fragments and memories of Joko bound into a projection of him, an echo of Joko created by the Mists, an alternate version of Joko from a different realm in the Mists, a mesmer illusion to conceal the truth, a Mad Spirit coerced by the courtiers into believing they are Joko, or an actual unaffiliated imposter making everyone think they are the real Joko. Deciding on which theory to support for the thesis, the Commander and Tassi concluded their investigation and put an end to Joko's tale while the lich king's legacy, regardless of the labyrinth Joko's origins, would live on in the Mad Realm to keep the Mad King entertained.

Locations

The Mists

• Fractals of the Mists
  • Twilight Oasis Fractal

• Mad King's Realm
  • Mad King's Labyrinth (as a ghost)

Story involvement

Path of Fire story

• Act 3
  • The Departing

Living World Season 4

• Episode 1: Daybreak
  • The Hero of Istan (voice only)
  • The First City (voice only)
• Episode 2: A Bug in the System
  • The Charge
• Episode 3: Long Live the Lich
  • Seized (as a projection)
  • Tactical Triage (as a projection)
  • Be My Guest

Combat abilities

Abilities

• Immortal

Effects

•  Aura of the Vampire - Joko is draining life from the living beings around him. Stop him!
•  Balthazar's Grasp - You are trapped and incapable of action. (only during The Departing)

Skills

• Scarab Bolts -
• Staff Strike - Deals damage with his staff.
•   Well of Darkness - Well. Target area pulses, blinding foes with each pulse.

Stolen skills

Gallery

Screenshots

• 

  Joko's portrait in Clanmarshal's Pergola.

• 

  Joko in the Mad King's Labyrinth.

• 

  Joko trapped in the Domain of the Lost.

• 

  Joko on the A Bug in the System trailer.

• 

  Joko and his staff in the final cinematic of Be My Guest.

• 

  Joko's banner.

Concept art

• 

  Concept art by Doug Williams for Guild Wars Nightfall.

• 

  Joko iconography concept art by Carlyn Lim.

• 

  Joko bestows the gift of magic on the races of Tyria.

• 

  Joko defeats Turai Ossa at the Battle of Jahai.

• 

  Joko defeats Abaddon in the Realm of Torment.

• 

  Joko defeats Zhaitan in the Ruined City of Arah.

Miscellaneous

• 

  A Bug in the System release banner.

• 

  Render by Marcus Jackson.

Related achievements

• The Desolation: Joko's Hidden Chamber — Gain entry to Joko's hidden chamber. (2)
• The Desolation: The Throne of Bones — Sit on Palawa Joko's throne. (2)
• Domain of Vabbi: Praise Joko! — Stand in front of and salute all of the Palawa Joko statues within the Domain of Vabbi. (10)
• Domain of Vabbi: Scourge Buster — Discover Timeworn Busts of Palawa Joko in locations throughout the Domain of Vabbi. (5)
• Daybreak: Not Thirsty — Destroy 25 Fountains of Joko while raiding the Mordant Crescent Great Hall. (3)
• Daybreak: Raze Joko! — Topple the statue of Palawa Joko inside Palawadan. (1)
• Long Live the Lich: Captive Audience — Listen to all of Joko's taunts. (1)
• A Star to Guide Us: Dark Tools for Dark Times — Reassemble Palawa Joko's staff. (10)
• Shadow of the Mad King: Mad Maleficence — Track down trophies of the eternal feud between Mad King Thorn and Palawa Joko during Halloween, when the Mad Realm draws near. (5)
• Shadow of the Mad King: Court Duty: The King's Guest — Visit the Mad King's Labyrinth for some...festive fun. Then follow up on developments observed in the Mad Realm. (1)

Notes

• Unlike in the rest of his Elonian empire where public announcements come from the Awakened Affirmation System, Joko addresses his subjects directly in the Domain of Kourna via big and small statues of himself which have been spread throughout the settlements there.
• Revenant players can briefly channel Joko as the Legendary Prisoner Stance in The Hero of Istan story instance.
• Attempting to speak with Joko in the Twilight Oasis Fractal results in the player getting downed.

Trivia

• Joko is voiced by Nolan North, who also voices the Human Male Pact Commander. He also voiced Joko in the original Guild Wars.
• In 2021 for Halloween, he replaced Bloody Prince Thorn in the Mad King's Labyrinth.
• Joko has his own leitmotif, called "Joko's Theme", which was composed by Maclaine Diemer.
• "Praise Joko" is an often used saying among Joko's Elonian subjects and has become a widely used meme among both developers and the player community.
• Joko's full name is only ever mentioned once by himself.
• Palawa is a name for Aboriginal Tasmanians who historically suffered from diseases introduced by colonists, and Jok is a spirit of illness among Acoli belief.
• When discussing who they would cast in a dream "movie-version" of Guild Wars Nightfall, ArenaNet would cast Christopher Walken as Palawa Joko.
• In the Long Live the Lich episode, the motion capture for Joko was done by Richard Sloniker.

During the rewriting and rebuilding of the initial versions of the first three episodes of Living World Season 4 due to a late shift in story focus, Joko's role was reduced as he was not intended to be the main villain of the restructured season story arc. Placing Joko's death earlier in the season at the height of his likability allowed the writers to have Joko address the questionable outcomes of the Pact Commander's actions without overstaying his welcome, help develop Aurene and progress her character arc, and give more room for the rest of the season's episodes to pay off some story debt.

See also

The Guild Wars Wiki has an article on Palawa Joko.

• Elonian royalty family tree
• Glorious Chest of Joko
• Legendary Prisoner Stance
• Private Property of P.I. Joko
• The Diary of Palawa Ignacious Joko
• The Reign of Palawa Joko
• Timeworn Bust of Palawa Joko
• Will of Joko

Associated items

• Banners of King Palawa Joko I
• El, Left Hand of Joko of Severance
• Intelligence Report: Palawa Joko I
• Mini Palawa Joko
• Mini Joko Funko POP!
• Mini Spectral Palawa Joko
• Miniature Joko Bust (for Personal Worship)
• Miniature Majestic Joko (for Personal Worship)
• Palawa Joko's Finger Cuff
• Palawa's Personal Tapestry
• Petite Statue of Joko the Immortal
• Portrait of Joko's Ascension
• Staff of the Inevitable
• Statue of Joko the Fearsome
• Statue of Joko the Indomitable
• Statue of Joko the Majestic
• Statue of Joko the Powerful
• Statue of Joko the Regal
• Statue of Joko the Victorious
• The Great Joko, Hero of Tyria
• Wise Words of Joko

External links

• There are so many ways to Praise Joko, Twitter.com