- "Why would I care [about breaking the law]? I am a rebel! And one day, I will be this town's leader! Future generations will be egging statues of ME!"
- ―Joel
Joel Gonzales appears as a main recurring character and main antagonist of Sibling Rivalries. He also has a central, non-antagonistic role in Sibling Rivalries: Vancouver Vultures.
Description[]
Joel is the first son of Melissa and Jose Gonzales Sr who was born in Vancouver, Canada. Three years later, he would also become the older brother to Jose Gonzales Jr..
There is not much known about his early childhood, except for the fact that he became a great friend to fellow Vancouver resident Francis McReary, meeting him in either first or second grade.
Joel has also been seen to replace his friends pretty easy, showing how he struggled to find his place. In 2011, Joel became a great friend to Jason Parker who recently moved to Vancouver and joined his football team. However, by early 2012, Joel left the Vultures and moved on to Salvador Rosales and his group of friends. Apparently, Joel also did Salvador wrong by siding with his then-enemies. Later in 2012, Joel and his family would move to Green Bay, Wisconsin for unknown reasons. During this time, Joel also reunited with his cousin Tony Gonzales (who has been living in Green Bay for his whole life), while also annoying Salvador Martinez with his mischievous antics.
Joel was described as being quite mischevious in his early childhood, which may be attributed to the toxic personalities that his parents display, as they make it clear that Jose is their "favorite" while they often insult Joel. Additionally, Joel has been seen annoying Francis' younger brother Packie by calling him "Little Packie", a nickname that he hates. Joel also threatens Jason Parker by telling him how he is angry that Jason is such a show-off, until revealing moments later that he was simply joking.
Joel's path to becoming a juvenile delinquent would unfold when he meets the Wisconsin Warriors in October 2013. By this point, his old friends the McReary family have also moved to Green Bay for a fresh start. When Joel first visited their new house, he annoyed the residents by turning off all of their music and just blasting his favorite boy band, One Direction. As he already had a disliking of Joel, Packie tells him to knock it off and Joel does (for now).
Betrayal and "Evil" Side[]
Joel is friendly to the McRearys for a while until the night after the events of "The Big Trade-Off". Joel speaks to James Johnson, a player for the Wisconsin Warriors who had injured Francis and Packie's brother Gerry's hand, which rendered him unable to play. Joel was honestly impressed with how James managed to incapacitate who was possibly the best member of their team. James appreciates the compliment, and offers Joel a place in the Warriors; the Warriors are actually a group of mean-spirited children who wish to take over Green Bay by any means necessary. In order to do so, the members will have to keep out all of the good-hearted people that will come to stop them.
That wasn't really Joel's goal as he was simply showing some "good sportsmanship", but he accepts anyway, seeing a new group of friends that he belogs with. The next day, Joel takes James to the McRearys' house to announce he is no longer on Gerry's team, or Gerry's best friend. He also manages to temporarily trap the siblings in the basement just to showcase how powerful he is going to be with the Warriors on his side. As everybody is questioning the absurdity of the situation, Joel foolishly lets his parents catch him with the siblings tied up, so everyone is freed and Joel begins to "hate" the McReary family like the Warriors tell him to.
Joel's villain ways have upset his brother Jose, who remains a friend of the siblings. Meanwhile, Joel is angry because of how loyal Jose is to their parents, without really caring about Joel feeling neglected by them all. Despite this, Joel still shows some love for his brother, possibly in a "Stockholm syndrome" type way where he still loves the neglectful family that he is trapped with.
Often times, the Warriors are either concerned with "defeating" the McRearys and keeping them out of the way, or they wish to turn the family and their friends to their side, so they can all cause havoc and take over Green Bay. However, his goal of specifically targeting the McRearys has since been phased out, in favor of showing Joel and the Warriors committing general misdeeds around town, taking their anger out on the world due to feeling like misfits. Joel doesn't hate the McRearys anymore as much as he simply envies them for being a loving family unit that he wishes he could experience.
From 2020 onward, there are more comics where he sides with them instead of wanting to defeat them, a notable example being "Barking Up The Wrong Tree". It is hinted that Joel still loves the McReary family, and it is simply the negative influence of the Wisconsin Warriors that makes him hate them. In "Ill-Behaved Interviewee", Joel tells Packie to stay on the path of good and to not end up like him. In "My Ma Said Knock You Out", Joel also declares that Packie is totally stronger than him.
Mending Familial Relationships[]
The comic "Smell the Love" was a turning point for the relationship between Joel and his family. After Joel had ruined Maureen and Hector's anniversary party by unleashing a stinky durian, Joel was removed from the party by his father and sent back home. Jose scolded him and insulted him as usual, but Joel's continued attitude caused his father to punch him a few times, bruising Joel and driving him to tears. Jose Jr. told his father that he finally sees how rude that he and their mother is to Joel, and finally sides with Joel as he understands that he lives in an abusive household where the parents add onto Joel's pain rather than helping him.
This behavior was also called out by Maureen and Hector, who also tell them that they are the reason why Joel is the way he is; in fact, the entire McReary-Wilson family defends Joel, focusing on the good he has done and concluding that they still love him and will always be ready to deal with whatever he throws at them. Maureen and Hector decide to not be friends with Lissa and Jose for a bit. The parents learn from this, and apologize to Joel and vow to be better, but Joel says that the best thing they can do right now is have some space. This can be accomplished by Joel technically moving out, although still residing on their property.
This was accomplished by Jose turning the backyard tool shed into a bedroom for Joel (he explicitly says that it is only a "bedroom", so Joel must still come inside to cook food or use the restroom). The shed includes his bed, mini-fridge, cabinets (for clothing or other items), an oscillating fan, an air conditioner that sits inside one of the windows, and a table that includes a TV and his Xbox. Joel is satisfied with this room and promises that he won't sneak out every single night; he and the family share a hug as they are seemingly on better terms now.
Joel will not yet be entirely cleared of any villainous intentions; he will remain a recurring antagonist (albeit in a comedic manner), but he and his family are mending their relationship, which may lead to him being truly redeemed in a few years.
Future Life[]
In the comic "Pack To The Future", set four years from the present, it appears that the Warriors have disbanded. Joel has also given up his "evil" intentions for good and has developed a true friendship with Packie and his family.
Joel has also gotten several tattoos; on his right arm he has the Wisconsin Warriors logo and a snake (reference to the tattoo on The Simpsons character Snake Jailbird albeit in less quality; on his left arm he has a skull and the One Direction logo; he has a religious cross on his right leg, and his initials J.G on his left leg.
The Mighty J (Superhero Alter-Ego)[]
In Season 9 comic comic of the same name, after feeling satisfaction from stopping a lady from being robbed, Joel decides to create a superhero persona dubbed "The Mighty J"; an anonymous figure who goes around helping anybody in need. The tasks he did included saving Michelle Stone's cat who got stuck in a tree, or helping his grandmother crossing the street (while she does not know it is actually Joel and even tells him that Joel would never be nice enough to help her).
At the end of the comic, his cover was blown on national TV, when Giovanni turned himself into the police after robbing a local store, and Joel revealed himself as being affiliated with Giovanni. This marks the end of the Mighty J.
Sexuality[]
Some signs point to Joel being homosexual, but he is also confused about this.
He is frequently mentioned to be a fan of the boy band One Direction, with a particular interest in Zayn Malik. However, he has hinted that his father does not approve of this crush. Having to bottle up these feelings may have resulted in Joel displaying homophobia in the Season 13 comic "Love, Stevie": he continues to bully Zachary Marshall and Steve Madison while they are out on a date, spilling a drink on them and attacking/chasing them with paintball guns. Joel criticizes their "choice of lifestyle" and dislikes how modern society is so obsessed with "representation" and "inclusion".
After they are too wounded to continue, Zack reluctantly calls his siblings to come put Joel in his place. After insulting everybody a few more times, Joel is slapped several times by Packie until he eventually apologizes for his actions. Joel admits that he is a hypocrite that barely understands himself, and was simply attacking Zack and Steve due to these feelings that he has held back.
When Joel technically "moves out" in "Smell the Love", he hangs up One Direction posters in his room, with one of them being one that only includes Zayn, showing that his parents are letting him embrace this interest in the band.
Joel has also described Hector Wilson as a "hunk" in his first appearance, "Like Father, Like Sons (And Daughter)"; he asks James Johnson if he agrees, to which James replies "sure, I guess!". In Season 12 comic "My Ma Said Knock You Out", Joel describes Packie and Francis as handsome. However, it is unknown if this hints that he has a crush on them, as it rather segues into an insult about their mother being ugly, so it is surprising that she had such good-looking children. He also says how their deceased father may have had the good looks, but sheepishly reminds them of how he died before bringing any more "handsome creations" into the world.
Trivia[]
- Joel serves as the protagonist of "Menace at Work" and "The Mighty J!".
- He absolutely hates the word "police", and it literally gives him hives to even hear the word ("Barking Up The Wrong Tree").
- Joel is strangely the only member of the Wisconsin Warriors to not wear the logo (outside of when wearing his football uniform). James permanently wears his Warriors football uniform, Marco and Trevor wear the logo on their shirts starting with Season 7, and Giovanni has a Warriors tattoo on both of his forearms. In "Pack To The Future", Joel is seen to eventually get a Warriors tattoo on one of his arms, but the Warriors would have been dissolved at this point.
- He is known to vandalize property, as he mentions throwing eggs at the town statue in "Packie The Prankster", and he is seen spray painting the Warriors logo on the side of a building in "Christmas In July" before immediately regretting that after hearing San Salvador sing gospel music.
- As revealed in "Ill-Behaved Interviewee", he and the other Warriors smoke cigarettes.
- He loves engaging in Conga lines, mentioning them as something that reminds him of his "pre-villain days". ("Zack Attack")
- In "Frightful Football Reunions", Joel tells Gerry that he had a cousin who died from a football injury to the head, which made him initially hesitant to play catch without a helmet. However, he had no issue playing football in Sibling Rivalries: Vancouver Vultures or the rest of the series. This cousin is also not mentioned again, or he may have been retconned and became Tony Gonzales, who merely sustained a leg injury.
- Joel was the first character in the series to appear without a shirt, although chronologically that would be Hector Wilson in the prequel Zachary.
- In "My Ma Said Knock You Out", Joel's favorite TV show is revealed to be Family Guy, with GTA Nerd claiming that the show's frequent use of mean-spirited humor in later episodes could be one of the driving factors behind Joel's personality.
- In "Roadside", he claims that some people have been referring to him as "this generation's version of Jeffrey Dahmer" (a real-life serial killer from Wisconsin) due to his villainous acts, but Joel says that he wouldn't cross such a line; he said the same thing in "Black Bear" where he showed clear disgust for Bruce Warren, who was a pedophile.
- In comics like "Pockets Full of Posey('s Love)" and "The Other Gerry", he jokingly appears hiding in Francis and Packie's closet, often popping out to chime in with dialogue, much to the shock of whoever is in the room at the time. In the latter comic, when Maureen expresses annoyance about Joel always finding his way in, Joel gets defensive and says how he is simply watching a healthy household where no favorites are played, unlike his own where Jose is loved more than him.
- There were a few instances where Joel managed to "win" against Packie or his family, where his comeuppance was not immediately seen:
- He successfully scared the McReary family by dressing up as a fictional forest creature that they assumed was real ("The Curse of the Milderbeast")
- In what could be considered his most heinous act of all, he planted a cherry bomb in Locker 6-13 (which he previously shared with Packie) and when it detonated, Packie was framed for this destruction of this wall of the school - all that happened to Joel was that he was drenched when the school's sprinkler system turned on ("Locked Up!")
- He let the McReary siblings slip in water while he was clocked in at his job at the Ultra-Mart; Joel was immediately fired for this and was told that his paycheck for that week would go towards any hospital bills that the McReary siblings need, but Joel did not care and simply ran off cheering ("Menace at Work")
- He randomly comes in to slap Packie for refusing to give him honest therapy advice, and Packie just shrugged it off ("Therapy Session")
- He dumps lemon juice on Packie as he is walking home from school, and all Packie does is shake his fist as the comic ends ("The Pre-Dinner Clan")
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Appearances[]
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Other[]
| Status |
|---|
| An italicized name indicates this is a former member. A name left alone indicates this member is still on the team after 2011. |
| Team Leaders |
|---|
| Carlos Hill (coach) • Estevan Caballero (team captain, later becomes coach) |
| Football Players |
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| Jason Parker (#7, wide reciever and later team captain) • Drake Romero (#8, center) • Gerald McReary (#4, quarterback) • Joel Gonzales (#9, guard) • Michael Guzman (#1, kicker) • Xavier Garcia (#2, tight end) • Julian Murry (#5, running back) • Jose Gonzales (#10, backup wide reciever) • Marc Forelli (#3, position unknown) |
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