What is the name of the main character in Soul?

What is the name of the main character in Soul? The answer is Joe Gardner.

Joe Gardner is the central character of Pixar’s 2020 film Soul. He is a middle-school music teacher and talented jazz pianist who longs for a permanent career as a professional musician. His long-awaited opportunity arrives when he is invited to play with saxophonist Dorothea Williams, but an accident separates his soul from his body before the performance.

Joe then finds himself in the Great Before, a fantastical realm where new souls develop personalities and receive their “sparks” before entering life. He becomes connected to 22, a soul who has resisted being born, and their unusual partnership forces Joe to reconsider what gives life meaning.

Joe is sometimes confused with Dorothea, the musician leading the jazz quartet, or with 22, the film’s other major character. However, Joe Gardner is the human protagonist whose obsession with achieving a musical goal gradually expands into a deeper appreciation of ordinary experiences. Jamie Foxx voices Joe, while the film’s jazz score includes music by Jon Batiste.