JOSH WASHINGTON

Josh is a young man with short brown hair and green eyes. He is seen wearing a knitted wool beanie and a sleeveless puffer jacket outside. Inside, he wears a dark brown shirt underneath a flat-collared blue and white plaid-styled unbuttoned shirt and a pair of jeans. Josh is described as thoughtful, loving and complex in the original game, while in the 2024 remake, these traits are persistent, creative and playful. Josh's interactions with the other group members tend to be humorous. He cares for his friends, acts as a brotherly figure to his childhood best friend Chris, and likes to make sure everyone is having a good time. Josh has an ISFP personality type. He loves his family, dislikes being bossed around, and dreams of becoming a film producer. His dreams of following in his father's footsteps in becoming a film producer make him very knowledgeable about special effects and movie props and as such, he constantly uses phrases and words from movies. Josh appears to be warm and accommodating, but his outgoing appearance masks a troubled history. After an incident at school, Josh was referred to a psychiatrist in 2006 and diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder at age 11. Over the following years, he was referred to a number of other medical professionals and prescribed a variety of antidepressant medications. However, the effects of the drugs tapered or simply failed to help Josh at all, forcing his doctors to continuously change prescriptions. When Josh welcomes his friends back to his family lodge, his warm personality is apparent, though, he does often show an inability to 'read the room,' such as when he explicitly pushes Chris to make moves on Ashley, or when he urges the group to ''party like pornstars'' on the one-year anniversary of his sisters' disappearance, who he had a close bond with. Josh took their disappearance very badly: the event caused him to drop out of college and triggered his existing chronic depression. As this became more and more severe throughout the year before the events of Until Dawn, he turned to Sam for support. Medical records from around this time suggest he came dangerously close to committing suicide, and his delirious state resulted in him being committed to Oceanview Hospital for observation while his psychiatrist, Dr. Alan Hill, considered possible treatments. Though Josh was discharged two weeks later with a new prescription of the medication Phenelzine, he had changed: while appearing good-humored and sociable, he became consumed with the desire of taking revenge on his friends for causing his sisters' disappearance and stopped taking his medication. Josh's desire for revenge is eventually put into action through his knowledge of movies and special effects. He fakes his own death and creates an alter ego: the Psycho. As the Psycho, Josh subjects some of his friends to various traps he put together. When he finally reveals himself to his friends, Josh shows a clear disconnect from reality - laughing off his last "prank" on Chris and Ashley, and gleefully telling them they will become internet sensations. Josh refuses to take his meds, making him unpredictable, childish, and deranged. The Psycho from Until Dawn is a mysterious and unsettling figure whose appearance is crafted to evoke fear and unease. He wears a grimy, featureless mask that resembles a distorted human face, with hollow eye sockets and a permanently twisted expression, giving him an eerie, inhuman look. His outfit consists of dark, rugged clothing — including a heavy jacket, gloves, and boots — which helps him blend into the shadows of the mountain lodge and surrounding wilderness. The overall aesthetic is utilitarian yet menacing, designed more for intimidation than style. The anonymity of the mask, combined with his silent movements and knowledge of the environment, makes the Psycho a haunting presence that adds to the tension and psychological horror of the game.