What did joko do all this years?

he is a classical GW -Anet antagonist who we had to do a devil bargain with back then, surely he was up to something except ruling this past decades that tyria suffered turmoils.

I may remember it incorrectly, but wasn't Palawa Joko more of a comic relief character in Nightfall ?

Otherwise, killing stuff, raising minions and spending a fortune on statues and merchandise.

@Ashur.7648 said:I may remember it incorrectly, but wasn't Palawa Joko more of a comic relief character in Nightfall ?

Otherwise, killing stuff, raising minions and spending a fortune on statues and merchandise.

You might be thinking of the Halloween quest where you help Mad King Thorn attempt to humiliate Joko because of a feud the two had back when they were both alive (or possibly only Mad King Thorn was alive?) and because the Lunatic Court believes killing enough undead will swamp Grenth with paperwork so he won't notice them escaping the Underworld. (Yes that plan is exactly as absurd as it sounds.)

Within the main game he's a very serious threat. He's an undead lich and a powerful necromancer with a huge undead army - who are more like the risen than our necro minions because they can move away from Joko and persist indefinitely, even after he was imprisoned for centuries. He very nearly succeeded on his first attempt to take over Elona and was only stopped by Turai Ossa - widely considered to be the greatest hero in the entire history of Elona.

(According to the GW1 wiki he also has a permanent 66% speed boost which makes him faster than other characters and is one of only 3 NPCs to have more than 2 elite skills at once - players could only have 1.)

Having said that it does seem that 'all' he's done since GW1 is conquer Elona. But then according to the GW2 Wiki there was nearly 100 years between his creating the Bone Palace and beginning to build up his army and his first attempt to invade Vabbi. I guess when you're immortal you can afford to take your time with things.

Interesting it seems that by the time of GW2 a lot of Elonians have come to accept him as their rightful ruler and actually argue that he protects them from external threats like the dragons and therefore they're better off with him. It may be that he's learned from past mistakes and has taken steps to not only crush resistance to his rule but also give people incentives to accept him so they're less likely to rebel. Or it may be that it's just become normality for Elonians and so they accept it even if it isn't good.

Or, crazy as it sounds, it might be that apart from his violent conquest he's actually been a decent ruler to most of the people of Elona so they have good reason to accept him. It's happened in real life, for example both the Romans and the Normans conquered Britain by force - killing a lot of people in the process - and then settled here and became reasonably decent rulers. (Although you do have to factor in that it was a long time ago and history is typically written by the victors.)

I know his history before Nightfall, the comic relief was more a reference to him in Nightfall itself. I think he might just have had some cheesy supervillain vibe, mostly because he had no real power at that time. I found him quite endearing actually, so I hope he hasn't turned (or returned) into Zhaitan 2.0 in PoF.

Uhhhh... ruling..

good rundown of what Joko was up to here https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Movement_of_the_World

quoting"The monster's name was Palawa Joko. Within sixty years of Kormir's rise to godhood, Palawa Joko mustered his former power and marched a new army of mummies, zombies, and other undead out of the Crystal Desert into war with Vabbi. To ensure his dominance, Palawa dammed and diverted the river Elon, causing drought and famine amid the northern provinces of Elona and creating a green and growing area within the Crystal Desert. In this area, Palawa Joko established the seat of his new kingdom.

The horrible famine caused by the diverted river caused widespread rebellion among the people of Vabbi and northern Kourna. Palawa Joko then found it all too easy to break the backs of Elonian resistance. Vabbi bowed to his strength simply to survive, and Kourna and Istan both became vassal states.

Palawa's price for benevolence was tribute, forced loyalty, and all those who bore the name Ossa delivered unto his care. Periodically, a few more descendants were found hiding in the hills of Elona—and all were delivered unto the undead ruler of Elona. From the descendants of his ancient enemy, Palawa created a living army to match his undead one, reveling in the irony that Ossa's children owed their lives—and their loyalty—to him.

Palawa also took great pride in the destruction of his greatest enemies: the Sunspears. Broken, their strongholds destroyed, their members scattered to the winds, they stood as a force no longer in Elona. Eventually, most of the populace forgot about the Order and their heroic deeds. Those few Sunspears who survived passed on the teachings of the Order over the course of more than a hundred years, holding onto the tenets of a barely-remembered vision. They became wandering mystics, philosophers, and lone warriors in a world that chose to forget their presence.

All but a few. Some Sunspears, taken in by Palawa Joko's offers of power and rank, abandoned their vows. These traitors to the Order were given command of Palawa's armies or allowed to work alone against those in Elona who once scorned them. Each one, converted personally by Palawa, was given power over death and sent out to hunt down and destroy their fellow Sunspears—or bring them before their lord to be drawn into their unholy cause. These knights, called the Mordant Crescent, became a dark presence in the sunlit southern lands of Tyria. "

Joko conquered Elona in 1275 AE (originally we were told 1135 AE Though - unclear if he waged war for 40 years or total retcon.

Before then, he was building an army and planning. After then, he was solidifying his reign, brainwashing the people Little Red Book style. He also walled off Elona from the north, with what is now called The Bone Wall.

Also when Zhaitan rose in 1219 AE, 34 years after Joko conquered Elona, risen began assaulting the northern Elonian border so that kept some of Joko's attention as well. Likely why he made that wall too.

Refugees from Elona kept pouring into Kryta since 1135/1175 too, until approximately 1275 AE. Presumably that is when The Bone Wall was finished.

Balthazar comes riding on Kralkatorrik breathing purple flames and the wall comes down

@SunRain.8972 said:he is a classical GW -Anet antagonist who we had to do a devil bargain with back then, surely he was up to something except ruling this past decades that tyria suffered turmoils.

I bet he has been grinding for his legendary