Joseph Patrick Madden (a.k.a. Joe Hook, The Hook)

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Description

Joe Madden is built like a steel beam—broad-shouldered, thick-necked, and always standing just a little too still. His face is rough-hewn, with a broken nose and a jaw like a brick wall. He doesn’t dress fancy: work boots, rolled sleeves, a battered coat that still smells like machine oil. His left hand’s normal. His right? A heavy iron prosthetic hook from an old railyard accident—shined smooth, scarred deep, and capable of doing serious damage. People call him Ironhook, and nobody calls him that to his face unless they mean it with respect.

Personality

Joe is loyal to a fault, quiet unless he’s got something worth saying, and merciless when the time comes. He doesn’t like unnecessary violence—but when it’s necessary, he doesn’t flinch. He sees patterns in people others miss, reads between the lines, and knows when someone’s about to cross one. He’s the kind of man who gives you one warning—and only one.

Habits

Taps his iron hook lightly against surfaces while thinking

Smokes slow-burning cigars and cuts them with a blade welded into his hook

Keeps a folded photo of his old rail crew in his wallet

Hums old Irish labor songs under his breath when working out a problem

Hooks & Angles

Loyal Enforcer: He works closely with someone —Joe Bagels, Chunk, or maybe even one of the PCs. If they’re threatened, he doesn’t ask permission before acting.

Steel and Blood: That hook has ended a few lives. One of them might come back, in one way or another.

Wartime Wisdom: He didn’t serve overseas—but he fought a union war here at home. And he knows what battlefields look like.

Soft Spot: Somewhere under all that steel and muscle, Joe has one weakness. Could be a sister, a priest, a promise. He’ll never say it out loud.

Year of Birth

1914 CE 39 Years old

Birthplace

Gary, IN

Eyes

Deep brown, steady and observant, always sizing up a room

Hair

Black with early graying at the temples, kept short and combed back

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Pale, battered, with calloused hands and a stitched scar down the right side of his scalp

Height

6'2"

Weight

238 lbs.

Belief/Deity

Raised Irish Catholic—still lights a candle now and then