Character description
In the film, Immortan Joe is the "ruler of the wasteland... He wears a clear, plastic carapace — chest armor — over oozing sores, his long, white hair flaring around a skeleton-smile mask he uses to hide a breathing apparatus." Several versions of his carapace, which display medals made from car and mobile phone parts and some actual military insignia (such as the U.S. Navy officer cap insignia), were created at Artisan Armours in the United Kingdom.[3]
Fictional biography
Immortan Joe is introduced as the most powerful of the warlords controlling the wasteland. He maintains a god-like status among his followers through his control of the sole aquifer in the region. Despite this, he is in actuality sick and diseased, at times requiring the aid of his son to merely move. Fearing for his death, Joe has captured five wives, Toast, Capable, the Dag, Cheedo, and Angharad, in an effort to procure a healthy heir. However, the results thus far have failed. Joe's two sons, Rictus Erectus and Corpus Colossus, both prove unfit to run his empire: Rictus is extremely strong but has a low IQ, and Corpus is intelligent but suffers from a disease which has stunted his growth.
At the beginning of the film, Joe sends out his most trusted general, Imperator Furiosa, to send his War Rig to collect supplies from Gastown and the Bullet Farm. However, he later discovers that the War Rig has veered off course, and Furiosa has taken his five wives. When Joe realizes this, he takes almost all of his entire army, as well as members of the Bullet Farm and Gastown, to chase after the War Rig. Furiosa, assisted by an escaped "blood bag" named Max Rockatansky, manages to evade Joe through a dust storm and canyons. During a chase in the latter, a War Boy named Nux, who had been captured by Furiosa, goes to Joe to help him. However, when he attempts to harpoon the War Rig, Angharad, pregnant with Joe's child, attempts to cut it, and ends up tumbling off the War Rig. Joe later discovers that her child was perfectly healthy, and a worthy heir.
Later on, Furiosa and Max learn that the place they intended to go to has been ravaged, and change course to go back to the Citadel. When Joe realizes this, he leads his war party to attack them. In the ensuing climax, Furiosa attaches a chain to Joe's gas mask as well as one of the tires of his Gigahorse, ripping his mask and part of his face off, thus killing him. In the end, Joe's corpse is presented to his followers, and is torn to pieces in celebration.
The comic book tells the origins of Joe's rise to power. Originally Colonel Joe Moore, the man who would become Immortan Joe was a highly celebrated soldier who fought in the water and oil wars. During one of his raids, a fat man about to be executed tells Joe of an aquifer, nearly impossible to enter. Despite many casualties, Joe eventually manages to capture the aquifer, and is dubbed "immortal" by his followers. While he is attempting to capture the aquifer, he sends out scouts who discover an abandoned oil refinery and a lead mine, which would eventually become Gastown and the Bullet Farm. Joe's right-hand Major Kalashnikov is put in charge of the Bullet Farm, while the tour guide who revealed the location of the Aquifer to Joe takes control of Gastown, becoming known as the People-Eater.
Joe does not directly appear in the game, but the game does introduce a brand of War Boys led by his third son, Scabrous Scrotus.[4] In the game, Scrotus is depicted as the original leader of Gastown, but was seen as unfit to lead Joe's kingdom owing to his sheer insanity. When Max lodges a chainsaw in Scrotus's head at the beginning of the game, Scrotus becomes hell-bent on taking Max down, ultimately killed at the end. This leads to the People-Eater taking charge of Gastown.
Reception
Writing about the film for ABC News, Michael Rothman described Immortan Joe as "a real bad guy who looks nothing like any villain that's ever graced the silver screen".[4] Vanity Fair's Joanna Robinson described him as "nightmarish" and "a fairly classic Miller creation with a skull fetish even a teenage goth would envy".[5] Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic wrote, "Perhaps the closest 2015 has gotten to providing fodder for 'Greatest Villains of All Time' lists was in Mad Max: Fury Road, where slaver-warlord Immortan Joe sported a nauseating headpiece and an equally nauseating dadbod."[6]
