Joseph Van Needly

"I am suprised you have made it this far. However, your reaching of my castle will be short- lived. You're a strong boy, but not strong enough. I hold the Seventh Sword. You don't.” —Joseph Van Needly , Seven Swords 

Joseph Van Needly is a major antagonist in the Swords of Life series. He is the younger of the needly brothers, which led to his disliking of his brother Joseph Von Needly.

Seven Swords
Joseph is the main antagonist in Seven Swords. In this, he collects the Seven Swords to help him take over the world. After hearing word of this his brother sends Claude to stop him. After being defeated, his crown turns out to have been giving him the power to collect the swords.

Battle
Joseph Van Needly is the final normal boss in Seven Swords. He has three stages in his fight. In his first stage, he wheres a giant robotic suit that looks similar to himself. He can attack by jumping on the player, stomping the player, or by swiping his big cane. In his second stage, he flies around and shoots lazers from his cane. he can also swoop down and strike the player with his cane. His final stage involves him striking with his sword, which used to be his cane, and other varies moves involving striking his sword. After his defeat, the player unlocks the credits scene and possibly the true final level.

The Thirteenth Sword
Joseph reappears in The Thirteenth Sword, being the true antagonist after the defeat of Chardon Exconvencey. This time around, he seems to be able to control the Master Crown, unlike in Seven Swords.

Battle
Joseph Van Needly is the final secret boss of The Thirteenth Sword. He had only one stage, unlike his previous battle. He can fly again, and uses both his sword and cane. He attacks by striking the player in four different directions, throwing his sword at the player, and he can transform his sword into his cane and shoot lazers from it. After his defeat, the player unlocks the credits two scene and is awarded with a more powerful sword.

The Swords of Life
Joseph appears in The Swords of Life and plays the same role as his brother, appearing in the beginning and not showing up again until his boss fight at Nastzard Castle Grounds. He is also seen in the credits, still upset with his loss to his father at the castle.

Battle
Joseph Van Needly is encountered at Nastzard Castle Grounds, where the player must fight both him and his brother at the same time. He has four different attacks, with half of them involving his brother. His first attack is to wrap his cape around his brother, and then jump off of him and strike the player. The second attack is the opposite, where his brother jumps off of him. His thrid attack has him striking the player 2-6 times, depending on if the player stops him or not. His final attack is only triggered if Von Needly falls first. He runs forward, strikes the player three times and stabs them in the head. If he stabs the player in the head it is a game over, however, it is fairly easy to dodge or counter. After his defeat, the player moves on to Nastzard Castle.

History
Joseph Von Needly was born eight years after the end of the Duffle War. When he was just two years old, Nastzard attacked his home and destroyed the Needly Kingdom. Living in the ruins of his former home, Joseph grew up learning the art of sword fighting. After many years of practice, he challenged his older brother to a duel, which he lost. This loss started to fuel Van Needly's hatred towards his older brother, which grew every time his brother stood him up. Once the time had come for his father to launch an attack on Nastzard Castle, Van Needly asked to join his father's squadron. Richard denied, telling him to stay behind with his brother and guard the kingdom. This angered Van Needly, causing him to grow to hate his father. Van Needly sought out to prove his father wrong, and secretly followed his father to Nastzard Castle. His brother had the same idea, and also followed Richard to the castle. Once the Needly brothers caught up to him, they challenged thier father to a duel to prove that they were strong enough to help him take down Nastzard. However, Richard won the battle and told the brothers to return to thier kingdom. While his brother accepted the loss, Van Needly was enraged at his defeat. Instead of returing to his castle like he was told, Van Needly fled the area, looking for a new place to build his own kingdom. After after searching for a long time, he eventually found an abandoned tower. From here, Van Needly built up a vast army and turned the tower into a fortress. After several years of no contact with his father, Richard comes looking for his son after seeing a Dark Spirit replica of him. When Richard reaches the tower, Joseph sends out several of his best recruited troops to confront his father, including his captain, Joe Van Needly. After his troops lose, Joseph allows his father to enter his fortress. Once inside, Joseph shows his father the army he has built, as well as his new weapon he constructed, the Master Crown. Unimpressed by his army, Richard questions the Master Crowns ability to be used as a weapon. In an attempt to show his father up, Joseph tells the Master Crown to duel to father. Richard accepts the challenge, and after a long struggle, is able to prevail and defeat the crown. After defeating the crown, Richard tells his son that he has other business to attend to and leaves. Enraged, Joseph plots to attack the Leash, and evil and dangerous entity, to gain his fathers respect. After adding numerous upgrades to his crown, Joseph sets out to destroy the Leash. When he arrived, he noticed that Richard was already mid-battle with it. In an attempt to impress his father, Joseph instructs the crown to destroy the Leash and imprison it in its embedded jewel. The crown does so, and the Leash is then defeating and sucked into the crown. Richard tells his son that he is using corrupt technology, and that it was no way to win a fight. Richard leaves, leaving Joseph alone in the Leash's Union. Joseph, sick of his father, puts on his crown and proclaims that he will be a ruler someday, and no one will able to stop him.