Joe Kerr
VILE Trickster
Joe was born to a woman named Lisa Salvatore, in a small town in Northern Italy. Lisa, a single mother, died almost immediately after childbirth due to a combination of malnutrition and procedural complications. Before she died, she managed to name her son after the hospital - St Joseph's.
The infant was brought to the local orphanage to be raised by the nuns. They noticed that Joe was an exceptionally bright kid who had a knack for puzzles and mischief. He also seemed to like playing with the animals and had a gift for befriending them.
When Joe was about 8 years old, he was adopted by a foreign businessman who promised to give him a good home. The man would turn out to be the infamous Gentlemen Thief, William 'Willy' Kerrigan.
William became both a mentor and father figure to Joe and trained him to be his protege. Whilst raising Joe to be a gentlemen of the old school, William would teach Joe the fine art of grifting and heisting. William had strict rules about what could be stolen and what could not, and Joe would later learn that William's rules were mostly adapted from the unwritten code of thieves' honour.
(An example of one such rule instilled into young Joe was that works of art, statues and historical items were all considered priceless treasures due to their cultural value. Such treasure, once obtained, should not be sold for monetary gain but rather returned or donated to a worthy museum or other such establishment. Such treasure should only be stolen for the challenge or thrill of the theft.)
William was also a tinkerer and inspired a love in Joe for tinkering with odd gadgets and re-purposed magic tricks and pranks. William would often use these gadgets (such as his trademark cane which hid a smokescreen) in his escapades and Joe would adopt this technique in his own future endeavors.
When the time was right, Willy released Joe and told him to carve his own path. Joe spent a year travelling around the world and pulling small heists while trying to find his own style and niche. Joe would eventually settle upon a Jester's costume, combining magic tricks, re-purposed pranks and grifting trickery in order to pull off audacious heists. Joe would adopt the moniker "Joe Kerr" a pun on the combination of his own first name and Willy's last name.
Joe returned to Italy to search for Willy and found him in the local cemetery of the town he had grown up in. Willy had apparently been hiding his cancer from Joe and finally surrendered to the illness a month after Joe had left on his journey of personal discovery.
After settling affairs and paying a final goodbye to Willy, Joe moved out of Italy and would rent a small apartment near Tivoli Gardens to serve as a safehouse while he continued his 'career'.
Sometime later, Joseph would run into the only thief other than William whom he truly respected - Carmen Sandiego. Having heard a lot about Carmen through Willy's stories as well as the news, Joe was only too eager to join up with the Queen of Thieves and soon became VILE's resident trickster.
And the rest, they say, is history.
The infant was brought to the local orphanage to be raised by the nuns. They noticed that Joe was an exceptionally bright kid who had a knack for puzzles and mischief. He also seemed to like playing with the animals and had a gift for befriending them.
When Joe was about 8 years old, he was adopted by a foreign businessman who promised to give him a good home. The man would turn out to be the infamous Gentlemen Thief, William 'Willy' Kerrigan.
William became both a mentor and father figure to Joe and trained him to be his protege. Whilst raising Joe to be a gentlemen of the old school, William would teach Joe the fine art of grifting and heisting. William had strict rules about what could be stolen and what could not, and Joe would later learn that William's rules were mostly adapted from the unwritten code of thieves' honour.
(An example of one such rule instilled into young Joe was that works of art, statues and historical items were all considered priceless treasures due to their cultural value. Such treasure, once obtained, should not be sold for monetary gain but rather returned or donated to a worthy museum or other such establishment. Such treasure should only be stolen for the challenge or thrill of the theft.)
William was also a tinkerer and inspired a love in Joe for tinkering with odd gadgets and re-purposed magic tricks and pranks. William would often use these gadgets (such as his trademark cane which hid a smokescreen) in his escapades and Joe would adopt this technique in his own future endeavors.
When the time was right, Willy released Joe and told him to carve his own path. Joe spent a year travelling around the world and pulling small heists while trying to find his own style and niche. Joe would eventually settle upon a Jester's costume, combining magic tricks, re-purposed pranks and grifting trickery in order to pull off audacious heists. Joe would adopt the moniker "Joe Kerr" a pun on the combination of his own first name and Willy's last name.
Joe returned to Italy to search for Willy and found him in the local cemetery of the town he had grown up in. Willy had apparently been hiding his cancer from Joe and finally surrendered to the illness a month after Joe had left on his journey of personal discovery.
After settling affairs and paying a final goodbye to Willy, Joe moved out of Italy and would rent a small apartment near Tivoli Gardens to serve as a safehouse while he continued his 'career'.
Sometime later, Joseph would run into the only thief other than William whom he truly respected - Carmen Sandiego. Having heard a lot about Carmen through Willy's stories as well as the news, Joe was only too eager to join up with the Queen of Thieves and soon became VILE's resident trickster.
And the rest, they say, is history.
Last edited:
