I feel like this is an interesting and debatable topic because people have different interpretations of whether the little empathy that Joe does show is genuinely sincere or is another part of his profound narcissistic image as a protector and saviour.  Personally I don’t believe Joe is lacking empathy entirely, nor is any kindness he does show superficial or entirely self serving. I believe he does have genuine care and empathy for certain people which is accompanied by his self image and own needs. 

I’m not sure what personality disorder Joe is supposed to have as you can’t really clinically diagnose a fictional character. Though my guess would be he is a malignant narcissist, a narcissistic with strong antisocial tendencies. While it’s a stereotype to believe people like individuals with ASPD and NPD have no empathy and care, it is actually far more common that they have selective empathy and care about certain people, rather than none entirely. This seems to be the case for Joe in my eyes.

**He has a soft spot for children; Paco, Ellie and Henry.** 

Joe generally does seem to care about Paco.  He gives him food and books, provides him with company and a person to speak to and feels protective over him and is saddened when Paco is going through difficult times. When Paco leaves New York with his mother, Joe hugs him and says that he’s going to miss him.  Similarly with Ellie, Joe feels protective over her, gives her attention and support and protects her from Henderson. He comforts Ellie when she is breaking down and reassures her that she is not at fault for anything and there is nothing wrong with her. Even at the end of season 2, Joe straight up admits to Ellie that he killed Henderson, that he’s not a hero and that he is sorry for what has happened to her. He gives her money and pushes her to get away despite her telling him that she hates him. Even in season 3, when Ellie is no longer apart of Joe’s life, he still works hard to make money for her to support her financially.  With Henry, Joe does see Henry as an extension of himself, but his care isn’t superficial. He expresses a deep desire to want to connect with his son, he is horrified by the idea of Henry being like him and wants his son to have a better life than what he did. He gives up Henry at the end of season 3 when he realises that he can’t take Henry with him as Henry can’t have a childhood with Joe while he’s on the run and if Joe is caught, Henry will go into the system. This isn’t easy for Joe and he tears up as he leaves Henry.  In season 5 when Henry tells Joe that he is the monster, Joe is utterly destroyed by this. He breaks down in tears about how he can’t believe he has became the person he has. Unlike with Joe’s YOUS, Joe doesn’t express resentment and bitterness towards Henry when Henry calls him a monster, he says how Henry deserves better than him and how he still loves Henry so much. His anger is directed at Bronte for her betrayal, not at Henry.

Joe does like to see himself as a protector. Helping Ellie and Paco makes him feel good about himself and validates his self image as a protector. He also occasionally uses Paco and Ellie for his own goals and desires. Still, I don’t believe this means his care is entirely superficial and self serving. Joe gaining a psychological reward for helping them does not devalue the actions. Joe can genuinely care for Paco and Ellie, enjoy the feeling of being a protector and occasionally use them for his own needs. It isn’t all black and white. Multiple things can be true at the same time. His empathy is stronger for them because he empathises with their situation as he knows what’s it’s like to be them, don’t we all do that, don’t we all have more empathy for those we relate to?

**He shows kindness and empathy to certain people; Delilah, Nurse Fiona, Matthew, Connie, Mooney, Phoebe and Claudia.**

I won’t go through all of them, but I’ll touch on a few. Regarding Matthew and Connie, Joe was initially planning to frame them both for murders they had no part it. But after talking to them and hearing them out, he feels sympathy for them and decides not to go through with framing them. You can argue that a reason he is doing this is because he wants to remain the illusion that he is a good person and I agree that is definitely apart of it, but Joe does soften around them after hearing them out in his inner monologue, showing he does feel some sympathy for them. He also sympathises with Delilah’s situation and even after he killed Henderson, he still supports and tries to connect with her, despite her not being one of his YOUS. When she dies, Joe is genuinely saddened and not just because he believes he might have done it, but also because Delilah was someone real and grounded that Joe had grown to care about and connect with over their time together. 

**Joe shows partial guilt and shame for some of the suffering he has caused.**

His hallucinations of people like Beck, Love and Candace do show that to some degree Joe does feel bad for what he inevitably did to them and is ashamed for being the type of person who would do that. Though he is very defensive about it and tries to rationalise each action and even when he does admit to something bad he did, he tries to make it seem less or reroute the blame to someone else. He apologises to his hallucinations for what he did to them and seems saddened by their deaths. He cries and reaches for Beck and yells how he is sorry to the hallucination in season 2. After he kills Love and begins to stage the murder, he takes a moment to look through their wedding photos and you can see a moment of guilt and discomfort on Joe’s face before he quickly closes them. To Love’s hallucination in season 4, he apologises for taking her life and claims she left him no choice, so still defensive (But to be fair, she really didn’t). 

Joe trying to end his own life because he’s overcome with shame, disgust and partial guilt is one of the strongest points that he is clearly not indifferent to all the suffering he is causing. In those moments he expresses how he is aware that eventually he’ll just end up killing Kate and more people and that he should be ashamed for what he has done. Part of him is still rationalising his actions and being defensive through the Rhys manifestation, but ultimately Joe does make the decision to jump and is saved by the plot. 

Unfortunately though, Joe’s guilt and shame rarely ever leads to improvement in his behaviour and self. A lot of the guilt and shame he does experience is accompanied by justifications and defensiveness. 

Don’t get me wrong, Joe is still an horrendous person and having some empathy for a few people does not make up for years of destruction. Joe has done horrible things, but it’s also important to remember that just because Joe can be absolutely cruel and horrible, doesn’t mean he can’t care for anyone full stop. As I said, he has selective empathy, hence why he can care about Paco but still have no issue with killing Eddie and framing Nadia for his murders.

Joe has inconsistent and selective empathy, not no empathy entirely.