Fanfic / Unchained (CapNBlood)

Unchained is an ongoing fanfiction based on Steel Ball Run, the Seventh Part of the manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Written by CaptainBlood/CapNBlood, the fic takes place in an Alternate Universe where Johnny's older brother Nicholas lives, but Johnny dies. Which results in Nicholas becoming the protagonist of the story, entering the Steel Ball Run Race and getting caught up in a gauntlet of battles against various stand users.

The first chapter was released on February 10th, 2022, the fic's status is currently ongoing.

Unchained contains examples of the following tropes:

• Abled in the Adaptation: Unchained!Fritz lacks the cybernetic hand that his SBR counterpart has.
• Abnormal Ammo: Fritz's stand Weird Science can create guns out of just about any metal, a mix of steel and iron is used in Chapter 3. The bullets can also become tangible and intangible at the user's wish.
• Adaptation Name Change: Pocoloco's horse, named Hey Ya! in Steel Ball Run is named Outkast in Unchained.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
  • This trope applies to every character Nicholas meets in the story, since he never lived long enough to meet any of them in canon.
  • Diego and Nicholas have known each other for a decade, in contrast to canon where Diego met Nicholas only a minute before his death.
• Adaptation Expansion: Characters like Nicholas, Pocoloco and Fritz Von Stroheim have their personalities expanded on due to their more important roles in this story.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Nicholas’ has been shown to feel immense grief and guilt over the death of his brother, which is the opposite case in Steel Ball Run.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Nicholas holds his own in his fight against Stroheim for as long as he can, and unlocks a stand by the end of Chapter 3. It's likely he'll take even more levels in badass as the story progresses.
  • Fritz Von Stroheim is portrayed as a much more formiddable opponent, who nearly kills 3 major characters. He even has a stand in this continuity.
• Adaptational Curves: SBR!Nicholas had the physique of a scrawny teenager, meanwhile in the first chapter of Unchained, Nicholas is described as having a lean but cut physique.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Nicholas is introduced to us at the very beginning of Unchained, whereas in Steel Ball Run he didn't appear until halfway into the story.
  • While he was mentioned in Steel Ball Run's third chapter, George Joestar II didn't make his full appearance until halfway through the story alongside Nicholas. In Unchained he first appears in a flashback in Chapter 3.
  • Fritz becomes the first villain the Main Characters fight, when in SBR he was fought after Oyecomova.
• Adaptational Hairstyle Change: Nicholas has a slightly different hairstyle in Unchained. Word of God says it's based on one of Araki's covers for Alex Rider.
• Adaptational Late Appearance:
  • Gyro, Sandman and Pocoloco don't appear until the race begins, unlike how we were introduced to them before it started in Steel Ball Run.
  • In Steel Ball Run, Lucy Steel appeared in the first chapter. In Unchained Lucy is mentioned as being present once in the opening of Chapter 3.
• Adaptational Villainy: The three racers killed by The Boom Booms in SBR were innocent victims as far as we know. In Chapter 3, Fritz reveals that the three racers were also looking to collect the bounty on Gyro, and Fritz eliminated them because he wasn’t interested in sharing.
• Adapted Out:
  • Mrs Robinson does not appear in Unchained.
  • The Boom Boom Family, and their role in the story is replaced by Fritz Von Stroheim.
• Age Lift: Nicholas died at Age 14, but due to being Spared by the Adaptation he's 23 during the events of Unchained.
• Alternate Universe Fic: The main change is Johnny dying and Nicholas living, resulting in him entering the SBR Race. But there are a few other changes thrown in. See For Want Of A Nail below.
• Ambition Is Evil: Fritz has the ambitious goal of blending magic and technology to bring about a new industrial revolution for Germany. And he’s willing to kill people if he believes it will bring him closer to reach that goal, viewing them as necessary sacrifices for a greater purpose.
• Arm Cannon: Fritz uses Weird Science this way frequently.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Nicholas goes from being a character who appeared in one flashback in which he died, to the main character of his own story.
  • Pocoloco looks to be on his way to becoming this.
• Boom, Headshot!:It appears as though Stroheim accidentally does this to himself in Chapter 3. But it's subverted with the reveal of his ability showing it didn't harm him.
• Broken Ace: Nicholas is an accomplished, popular Horse Jockey born from a rich family. On the surface it seems as though he has it all. But inside he’s deeply haunted by his younger brother Johnny’s death, which he blames himself for.
• Composite Character:
  • Nicholas takes Johnny's role in the story, and the author has described his kindness being reminiscent of Jonathan.
  • Fritz Von Stroheim takes the role of The Boom Boom Family, and gains the hammyness of his original counterpart.
• Cool Big Bro: Nicholas to Johnny as per canon.
• Chain Pain: Nick's stand, The Chain (named after the song by Fleetwood Mac), takes the form of a chain that comes out of his wrist.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Nicholas perceived failure to protect his brother has caused him to develop this. As seen when he chooses to save Gyro from Stroheim, due to not wanting to feel guilty over the death of another person.
• Dead Alternate Counterpart:
  • Inverted with Nicholas who is alive in contrast to his canon counterpart.
  • Played straight with Johnny.
• Death by Adaptation: Johnny is killed before the beginning of the story.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • Johnny due to the story's premise, he will only appear in a handful of flashbacks.
  • The Author has stated that a lot of Lucy's story will be skipped over in Unchained.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation:
  • Johnny is shot and killed 12 years prior to his death in JoJolion.
  • The racers killed by The Boom Boom Family by colliding into each other, are instead gunned down by Stroheim in Unchained.
• Doesn't Like Guns: Nicholas says at the end of Chapter 3 that they make him uncomfortable. Likely due to reminding him of how Johnny died.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Hot Pants is namedropped in Chapter 3, though she is yet to properly appear.
• Evil Is Hammy: Fritz Von Stroheim takes very well from his original counterpart in that regard.
• Family Theme Naming: Nicholas stand 'The Chain' is a Fleetwood Mac reference just like his brother's stand, Tusk.
• Fan Verse: Unchained takes place in an alternate version of the Steel Ball Run Universe.
• Fatal Flaw Pride: Fritz suffers from this much like Rudol. Nicholas ends up exploiting it to stall for time in Chapter 3.
• For Want Of A Nail:
  • Nicholas living and Johnny dying.
  • Gyro still makes it first and is disqualified for using his steel ball in the first stage. But this time Nicholas becomes the winner of the first stage by default instead of Sandman, the other placements in the Top 10 get shaken up too.
  • The Boom Boom Family are replaced by Fritz Von Stroheim, who in this universe has a stand resulting in an entirely different first battle.
• Horseback Heroism: Nicholas going to help Gyro and tackling Stroheim off his horse. Mountain Tim also uses this trope later in the chapter when he comes to Nicholas and Gyro's aid.
• Mad Scientist: Fritz Von Stroheim, see Ambition Is Evil above.
• Motive Rant: There are 2 in Chapter 3. The first being Nicholas about entering the race and his love for his sport, the second being Stroheim's about his backstory and what led him to trying to kill Gyro.
• Musical Theme Naming: Wouldn't be a JoJo Story without it.
• Mythology Gag:
  • When Nicholas and Diego reunite in Chapter 1, the first thing Diego says is "Much time has passed since we last spoke."
  • The fight in Chapter 3 has quite a few of these. First he yells "YOU UTTER FOOLS!" when Gyro's' tactic fails. Then he goes on a Motive Rant where towards the end he says "GERMAN SCIENCE WILL BE THE BEST IN THE WORLD!"
• Nice Guy:
  • Nicholas' main trait is his compassion and kindness to others.
  • Pocoloco as per canon.
• Nothing Up My Sleeve: Stroheim uses this to catch Mountain Tim off guard.
• Posthumous Character: Johnny.
• Pragmatic Adaptation:
  • The Author has said that having a horse and stand called Hey Ya! would probably get confusing, especially in a written format. So the horse was renamed Outkast.
  • The author also states early on that most of the scenes that didn’t focus on Johnny in SBR will be skipped over in Unchained, because they’d play out exactly the same just with any mention of Johnny replaced with Nicholas.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Black Rose regains its balance after being startled by the white mouse, sparing Nicholas from his canonical death and kickstarting the events of the story.
• Sports Hero Backstory:
  • Nicholas was an acclaimed and gifted Horse Jockey, but after the death of his younger brother he took a hiatus before looking for a comeback race in the Steel Ball Run.
  • Diego as per canon.
• Toilet Humor: In Chapter 3 there is a gag that involves horse poop, it also doubles as a pun.
• The Von Trope Family: Fritz Von Stroheim.
• This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: In a series filled with humanoid stands who can punch fast enough to deflect bullets, Weird Science’s ability to create metal guns doesn’t sound effective. But in Chapter 3 he goes up against, a standless man, a Spin user that relies on steel balls (which can he absorbed to use as metal), and only one stand user that has an even weaker non combat ability. Basically opponents who really can’t defend against his ability. The only reason Stroheim didn’t kill all of them was that Nicholas awakened his stand last second, and Stroheim had no way of countering it.
• Wham Line: Nicholas is a mere second from death before something emerges from his wrist and saves him.
  Narrator: Nick focused his eyes on the gun, and he saw that something had attached itself to the face of the barrel. He squinted harder and that’s when he saw it.
  [Beat]
  A chain.
• What If?: The entire premise of the story - "What would happen if Johnny died instead of Nicholas?"
• Wrestler in All of Us: In Chapter 3, Nicholas performs what is essentially a diving crossbody on Stroheim. He does so off of a horse too!