This article is a quality article.Glass Joe is usually seen as the easiest character to beat in any version of Punch-Out!! he is in. He has poor defensive skills and takes quite a while to mount any offense. His lone signature maneuver is his "Taunt Punch" in which he takes a few steps back, shakes his gloves, mumbles a few words and then rushes forward to unleash his right hook, which can be easily be counter-punched for an immediate knockdown.
Nicknamed "France's Glass Jaw", Glass Joe is by far the easiest opponent in all the games. He has lost 99 times and has won once, in a freak accidental win against Nick Bruiser, states the Official Nintendo Magazine Punch-Out!! programmer. The intro theme for him in all games is La Marseillaise, the national anthem of France.
Glass Joe first appeared as the first opponent in the arcade classic Punch-Out!! in 1984. He made his next appearance on the Nintendo Entertainment System game Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! in 1987; once again as the very first opponent in the minor circuit. Glass Joe didn't appear directly in the 1994 Punch-Out!! game, but was linked to two characters in the game: Gabby Jay as his former boxing student and Nick Bruiser as the only boxer Joe had (allegedly) ever defeated. He later re-appeared in the fifth game in 2009.
Punch-Out!! (1984)
Glass Joe first appeared as the first opponent in the arcade classic
in 1984. He's incredibly easy and is mostly used as a practice opponent. He'll attack very little and will almost never dodge the player's punches. His attacks are extremely slow, he has really poor defensive skills and he has no actual unique punch like everyone else in the game. He's practically just a punching bag. His palette swap is Kid Quick.
Punch-Out!! featuring Mr. Dream (1987–1990)
He made his next appearance on the Nintendo Entertainment System game Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! in 1987, once again as the very first opponent in the Minor Circuit. He is still extremely weak and almost never punches or blocks. When he executes his Taunt Punch, it is very weak and if he is punched before executing it, he'll be knocked down no matter how much health he has left. He is mostly in the game for players to learn how to use punches and avoid attacks. His palette swap is Don Flamenco.
Punch-Out!! (2009)
Glass Joe makes a returning appearance in Punch-Out!! as the first opponent in the Minor Circuit. In the Wii version of Punch-Out!!, he is shown to be a somewhat nervous Frenchman with a love for baguettes and coffee. He retains his frailness and status as a mere punching bag for beginners, alternating between guarding his upper and lower torso. He does not throw punches often until he performs his "Vive La France" taunt. He is voiced by Christian Bernard, and speaks legitimate French. If you lose to him, he will say his name, march around, and show his weak toughness.
Star Opportunities:
Hit him during his taunt.
Hook him from the side he comes from while he recovers from an attack.
Counter his left jab with a right punch.
Counter his right uppercut with a left punch.
Occurs when pounding him during the beginning of the fight without stopping. (Left Jab, Right Jab, Left Jab, Right Hook, Left Hook, Right Hook, etc.)
Instant KD Trick: Smack him in the the face or gut when he returns from his Vive la France taunt.
Instant KO Trick #1: Hit him with a 3-star uppercut after his Vive la France taunt.
Instant KO Trick #2: Uppercut him anytime after he gets up from the 2nd KD in the same round.
Attacks:
Taunt: He will do a taunt, which he always does at the start of a round, by lowering his arm, raising his chin, and laughing at you. Hit him when he flashes yellow for a star.
Glass Joe's Viva La France in Punch-Out!! (Wii).
Viva La France: He will go to the back of the mat, do a long taunt while saying, "Eh, eh! Viva la France!", go back to the middle of the mat, and do a right uppercut. Countering it with either a normal punch, a one-star uppercut, or a two-star uppercut gives him an OHKD. Countering it with a three-star uppercut gives him an OHKO. He will start attacking after this taunt.
Right Uppercut: An easily telegraphed attack, he will grunt, preparing to attack, and strike with a right uppercut. This can be dodged, but cannot be blocked or ducked. At full stamina, it roughly takes ten right hooks to knock you down.
Left Jab: Also telegraphed, he will take a step back, preparing to attack, and jab you. Easier to evade, since you can block and duck this attack, unlike his hook. At full stamina, it roughly takes ten left jabs to knock you down.
Glitch: At the start of the fight, hook him when he taunts, then hook him when he is going back to the middle for another star, then throw in another hook, then do three jabs, three hooks, three jabs, three hooks, and immediately use the two-star uppercut to knock him down. When he gets up, landing any punch before he does the taunt gives you a star, and knocks him back.
Title Defense mode
Glass Joe returns in Title Defense to defeat Mac and win the champion's belt. When you battle him, he has gained some protective headgear from his doctor (which is allowed after suffering 100 losses, Little Mac can get one too), is slightly faster, and learned some fake-out moves, allowing him to actually be a challenging opponent. Also, because of his headgear he only needs to guard his stomach, meaning that his previous bad between-punches defense has now been fixed. A Star Uppercut will knock his headgear up into the air, allowing a good opportunity to hit his face with your fists. A 1-Star Punch allows 6 jabs, a 2-star punch gives you 9 jabs, and the 3-star punch allows 12-13 jabs. At some point, his headgear will shine yellow (normally one jab before the limit, such as 5 jabs after a one star uppercut) , giving you a signal to hook him for a star. If you lose to the TD version of him, he will laugh, saying he won and showing his victoriousness to the audience.
Star Opportunities:
Hit him on his vulnerable side (the side where he raises his arm and taps his head) during his taunt.
Hook him while he recovers from an attack. (Remember that he has the headgear, now, so you can't jab him for this star)
Counter his left jab with a right hook.
Counter his right jab with a left hook.
Counter his right uppercut with a left hook.
Counter his delayed right uppercut with a left hook.
While his headgear is knocked off, hook him when the headgear turns yellow.
When he dodges an uppercut, hook him as he comes back.
Instant KD Trick #1: Hit him with a hook after his Vive La France taunt.
Instant KD Trick #2: Hit him with a hook after his Liberté taunt.
Instant KO Trick #1: Hit him with a 3-Star Uppercut after his Viva la France taunt.
Instant KO Trick #2: Hit him with a 3-Star Uppercut after his Liberté taunt.
Instant KO Trick #3: Hit him with 50 total jabs.
Attacks:
Taunt: Different from his Contender-version, he taps his helmet, while saying one of the two lines, showing that you can't jab him. Hook him when he flashes yellow on his vulnerable side (the side where he raises his arm and taps his head) for a star.
Right Uppercut: Not much difference except it's a bit faster and stronger. At full stamina, it roughly takes seven right hooks to knock you down.
Left Jab: Not much difference except it's a bit faster and stronger. At full stamina, it roughly takes seven left jabs to knock you down.
Delayed Right Uppercut: A delayed-version of the right uppercut, which many consider to be the deadliest move he has, simply because it looks very similar to his regular right hook (the only difference is that his head is slightly lowered) , and it's slightly stronger. At full stamina, it roughly takes six delayed right hooks to knock you down.
Viva La France: Almost the same, except that you can only hook him for an OHKD (unless you use an uppercut), and the timing to do it is a bit stricter than his Contender version.
Liberté: The delayed-version of the Viva La France taunt, and instead of a right hook, it's a left jab.
Quick Attack: Glass Joe runs around in a flurry and then stops to punch. This attack can throw off newcomers, as it is nothing like any attack he has used up to this point. Blocking it lets you land more hooks during a stun.
Infinite: From the start, do a left hook on his taunt to get a star, but immediately use it. To do the infinite easily, either do the four-jab combination (Left Jab, Right Jab, Left Jab, Right Jab, Left Hook) or the five-jab combination (Right Jab, Left Jab, Right Jab, Left Jab, Right Jab, Left Hook), then immediately use the star to get his headgear opened, again. This is vital to getting the 50-Jab challenge.
Exhibition challenges
Contender:
Knock Glass Joe down 3 times and let him win...by decision!
Glass Joe has also appeared as a Hasbro Action Figure, in a Topps trading card series, and on a Punch-Out!! garbage can. He also made a cameo appearance in Captain N: The Game Master in the episode Videolympics, where he is seen boxing his own shadow, to which he loses.
Personality
Matching his weak physique, Glass Joe constantly complains about his pain in between rounds. He can be heard complaining about such things as his gloves being too tight, being too old for fighting, his stomach hurting and most importantly about his weak jaw. In Punch-Out!! featuring Mr. Dream, he even commonly asks if he has time to take a nap before the fight and is eager to retire.
In the Punch-Out!! (Wii), Glass Joe is a lot more energetic than in his previous appearances. While he still sometimes complains about his pain between rounds, he tries to gain the audience's cheering and even lightly taunts Little Mac. He seems to have a passion for baguettes, croissants, and coffee, as seen in his intro.
Quotes
Punch-Out!! featuring Mr. Dream (NES):
"Do I have time to take a nap before the fight?"
"Make it quick... I want to retire!"
"This is my last match! I'm too old for fighting!"
"Watch the jaw!! Don't hit my jaw!"
Punch-Out!! (Wii):
"Bonjour, bonjour! Je suis Glass Joe! Ha-ha!," meaning "Hello, hello! I am Glass Joe! Ha-ha!" (Contender intro)
"Bonjour, bonjour! Ahhh!" meaning "Hello, hello! Ahhh!" (alternate Contender intro)
"Pé-pé! Vive la France!" meaning "Hey-hey! Long live France!" (during taunt)
"Les mains me font mal, les gants de boxe sont trop serrés," meaning "My hands are hurting, the boxing gloves are too tight." (Contender intermission)
"Attention mon menton!! Ne frappe pas mon menton!" meaning "Watch out for my chin!! Don't hit my chin!" (Contender intermission)
"Ha! Une, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, KO!" meaning "Ha! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, KO!" (When starting a new round in Contender)
"Glass Joe! aah, aah, ooh..." (When Glass Joe wins in Contender)
"AAAHH!!!" (When you use star punch)
"HEY!" (When you use star punch)
"Je viens te chercher!" meaning "I'm coming after you!" (Title Defense intro)
"Pé!,Pé! Liberté!" meaning "Hey! Hey! Liberty!" (during taunt)
"Mon docteur a déclaré que tu es mauvais pour ma santé." meaning "My doctor declared that you're bad for my health." (Title Defense intermission)
"Ma tête est en plein forme, mais mon estomac est en bouillie..." meaning "My head, it is in perfect shape, but my stomach, it is mush..." (Title Defense intermission)
"Alors ça te plait?" meaning "So, do you like it?" (Taunting for making Mac punch)
"HA HA, HA! J'AI GAGNÉ!!!" meaning "HA HA, HA! I WON!!" (When Glass Joe wins in Title Defense)
Doc Louis Tips:
"Dodge! Dodge! Dodge and counter! Dodge and counter! You got it?"
"Whaddya say, Mac baby?! Let's welcome Glass Joe to the Big Apple. Greet this sucka with the Star Punch!"
"Savor this moment. Knock Glass Joe into retirement."
"Glass Joe!? What kinda name is that? Let's greet this sucka with the Star Punch."
"Listen, Mac. If your punches are blocked, you're gonna tire out."
"Woowee, Mac baby. Let's give Glass Joe a little respect here, okay? He can always take a whoopin'!"
"Hey champ, Glass Joe's trying to fool you with his hook. Wait for him to punch, and then get out of the way."
"Say "Au revoir", Glass Joe's jaw is headed into retirement."
"Check it out, son. That headgear is protecting his jaw. There's gotta be a way to knock it off. Find it, Mac!"
Trivia
Glass Joe and Gabby Jay are very similar to each other, which could be explained by the fact that Glass Joe was Gabby Jay's boxing instructor. They are weak and even have the same boxing record of 1-99, with Glass Joe's only victory being against Nick Bruiser and Gabby Jay's against Glass Joe. Also, they both have the initials "G.J."
Gabby Jay & Glass Joe also weigh the same (110 lbs), are from Paris, France, have Orthodox stances and are #3 in a Minor Circuit.
The Official Nintendo Magazine claims Glass Joe defeated Nick Bruiser. However, Nick Bruiser has an undefeated 42-0 record. Though it is possible, as Super Punch Out SNES was 1994, Nick could have lost to Joe after Super Punch Out 1994.
Little Mac can actually obtain a protective headgear similar to Glass Joe's by suffering 100 defeats, much as Glass Joe did when he got his own. Glass Joe gaining his headgear possibly hints at this being part of the WVBA's regulations.
Glass Joe can be knocked down 5 times in both Contender mode and Title defense, unlike Von Kaiser to Don Flamenco (King Hippo doesn't count), who can get knocked down 4 times in Contender mode, then 5 times in Title Defense, which is ironic.
Even more ironic is that 50 jabs will automatically defeat Glass Joe in Title Defense, yet in Contender mode, he can endure even more than 100. It's possible that his head has recieved so much damage after his first fight with Little Mac that it barely withstand any more, let alone 50 jabs. This is probably because you NEED to uppercut him to knock off the headgear, doing damage.
At full health, without ever finishing a stun or countering, he can take up to 34 punches.
Of all the World Records on Punch-Out!! Wii, Glass Joe is the only one that utilizes a glitch that stops time during the taunt, by throwing a left hook at a specific time. See here.
Ironically, Glass Joe is tied with Gabby Jay as most experienced fighter, edging out Mr. Dream by 1 fight. Little Mac, however, can pass this record in the Wii version of Punch Out.
