Characters / JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood

aka: Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure Part 1

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Main Character Index
Phantom Blood: DIO
Battle Tendency: Joseph Joestar
Stardust Crusaders: The Joestar Group (Jotaro Kujo | Jean-Pierre Polnareff) | Egypt 9 Glory Gods | DIO's Household
Diamond is Unbreakable: Heroes | Yoshikage Kira
Golden Wind: Team Bucciarati (Giorno Giovanna) | La Squadra di Esecuzioni | The Boss
Stone Ocean: Heroes | Enrico Pucci
Steel Ball Run
JoJolion: The Higashikata Family
The JOJOLands
One-Shot Characters | Spinoff Characters

♫ I'll be the roundabout... ♫

---

Heroes

Jonathan Joestar

Jonathan Joestar (Dormant Stand: Unnamed Precognitive Stand/Hermit Purple #2/The Passion)

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (TV anime, All-Star Battle (R), J-Stars Victory Vs, and Eyes of Heaven), Jurota Kosugi (OVA), Hideyuki Tanaka (Phantom Blood video game), Katsuyuki Konishi (Phantom Blood film) (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)
Young Jonathan voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (TV anime), Kazuya Nakai (Phantom Blood video game), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)
Played by: Yuya Matsushita and Shotaro Arisawa (Phantom Blood musical)

"I'm fighting to protect my family from those who wish it harm. I doubt very much that your resolve is equal to mine!"

^{Click here to see Jonathan as he appears before the seven-year Time Skip.}
"I can't beat him...! But if I lose here and now, I'll spend the rest of my life cowering in Dio's shadow! Most of all... I have to fight for Erina's honor. She needs a champion!"

^{Click here to see Jonathan as he appears after the seven-year Time Skip, in "A Letter From the Past".}
"I came here for the sake of my father. You have a family. People who'd expect you to return from this dark business. It's not my place to cause them grief."

"I did not take a beating just now for your sake! So whatever you're thinking, stop it! All I want is to conduct myself as a gentleman. I spotted a Damsel in Distress. A true gentleman has no fear. He'll fight for those who can't. Even knowing it's a fight he has no chance of winning, he enters the fray. Someday... I'll have the strength to win."

Jonathan Joestar, nicknamed JoJo. Just a 12-year-old boy minding his own business in 1880s Victorian England. One day, his father announces that Dio Brando is moving in with them, and Dio proceeds to push him out of his father's favor and ruin his life in every way possible. Jonathan, however, puts up with Dio, managing to get beyond it all and become an archaeologist. He researches a Mesoamerican stone mask that was in his father's collection, that, at first, appears to be a trap that kills the wearer. JoJo then finds out that Dio plans to kill his father and races to get an antidote from the evil Wang Chan with his newfound friend Robert E. O. Speedwagon. After getting the cure, the two men save JoJo's father and fight Dio, who, during the fight, shows that he has used the mask on himself and not died but become a vampire, and burns down Jonathan's house and escapes. JoJo and Speedwagon meet the Italian William Antonio Zeppeli, who teaches JoJo the vampire-killing fighting style Hamon to beat Dio. JoJo, Speedwagon, and Zeppeli go to a European village and face off with Dio.

---

• The Ace: He achieves mastery of Hamon, a skill that usually takes a lifetime, within the span of a month. Aside from this, he's also a well educated man who excelled in his studies as well as in physical activities. His only rival in pretty much anything is Dio.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: In the 2012 anime, Jonathan is given blue hair as opposed to the brown hair he and the rest of his family have in the manga. Most likely this was in order to physically differentiate Jonathan from his Identical Grandson Joseph.
• Adventurer Archaeologist: When he grows up, he pursues a career in archaeology. We don't see much of it, though, because he's too busy fighting vampires.
• Affectionate Nickname: Inverted with Erina, who switches from calling him by his nickname "JoJo" to his real name Jonathan after marrying him.
• Alliterative Name: Jonathan Joestar.
• All-Loving Hero: As expected for a traditional shonen hero, his kindness towards any other living creature is unwavering. He even tries to see the best in Dio, a man who does everything possible to destroy Jonathan's life. This doesn't change after Dio nearly murders his wife and child. In fact, it's clear that he still cares for Dio even as he burns to death in a sinking ship and Dio is stealing his body. Additionally, Jonathan could have chosen to go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Dio’s forces, but instead simply tries to defeat Dio with grace, even after the guy’s massive crimes, including kicking and killing Jonathan’s dog. Take notes, John Wick.
• Animal Motifs: In Tonpetty's prediction, he is compared to a lion. It's not a far-fetched comparison, as the mature Jonathan acquired many of the attributes commonly given to a lion: he's strong, noble and courageous.
• Badass Adorable: He's a well-mannered, sincere, sweet-tempered, and kind-hearted Boy Next Door during his childhood years who also happens to be skilled in boxing.
• Badass Bookworm: He studies and publishes articles on archaeology in college while also being among the physically strongest members of his family.
• Badass Cape: He wears a long cloak when he traverses the streets of London and fights against the thugs of Ogre Street.
• Badass Family: He's the only badass Joestar of his era, but his family Took a Level in Badass with each successive generation.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: He spends the majority of Phantom Blood dressed in Victorian gentlemen's clothes. The only time he's not is during his climactic battle with Dio in the castle.
• Badass Normal: Before getting his Hamon abilities, he's a strong fighter. In fact, he hands vampirized Dio a defeat despite not knowing Hamon at the time. He's the only main JoJo to never get a Stand either^note at least not while he's alive, he does posthumously get one through Dio using his body in Stardust Crusaders, and in the non-canon Jorge Joestar, he gets a clairvoyant stand called The Passion, although that wasn't strictly him anymore so the point still stands, making him the most "normal" fighter of them all. He's also without a doubt the biggest physical fighter of all the main series JoJo's.
• Baritone of Strength: In the Phantom Blood movie where he is voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi, he has a very deep voice fitting of his immense strength. Inverted in the anime, where he's voiced by tenors Kazuyuki Okitsu and Johnny Yong Bosch (English dub), but remains a badass.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Despite being the kindest and most purehearted Jojo, Jonathan can be terrifying when pushed too far. Dio learns this firsthand after he messes with Erina, leading to Jonathan furiously beating the bastard until he cries.
  Jonathan: (headbutts Dio, and repeatedly punches him) DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOOOO!
  Dio: I-impossible...!
  Jonathan: (continues whaling on him) I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU 'TIL YOU CRY LIKE A BABY, DIO!
• Big Man on Campus: He's one of the best students of his school alongside Dio as he's athletic and popular. Unlike Dio, however, he's also a kind individual.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Being a Kenshiro expy, it's no surprise that he has large eyebrows.
• Birthmark of Destiny: He carries the star-shaped birthmark that other members of the Joestar family have. Notably, he's the member of the Joestar family that starts their legacy of battling evil.
• Boisterous Bruiser: In his younger days, he was this with his frequent fun-loving nature and his fiery willpower. When he's grown up, he has a much calmer personality, but still retains his hot-bloodedness.
• Boxing Battler: He uses boxing techniques during his childhood, which carries over to his combat style in his adult years.
• Blue Is Heroic: The biggest example of an All-Loving Hero among the JoJos, his main outfit is usually portrayed as blue, in addition to the anime giving him blue hair.
• Brave Scot: Being a descendant of Highlander warriors, Jonathan is at least part Scottish and has immense bravery and chivalry.
• Butt-Monkey: Dio turns his younger days into a living hell just because "he was in the way". And before that, in his very first appearance, he gets the tar beaten out of him by two random bullies who pick on Erina simply because he's a member of a rich family. Unlike most examples, it's not Played for Laughs at all.
• Cain and Abel: Since Dio is his adopted brother, Jonathan is the good-hearted, selfless Abel to Dio's cold-hearted, greedy Cain. The rivalry between the two and Dio's desire to inherit the Joestar fortune instead of Jonathan leads to Dio attempting to stab JoJo and use his blood to activate the Stone Mask. Later Dio ends up killing Jonathan and taking his body for his own, paralleling Cain's murder of Abel.
• Calling Your Attacks: It's a habit of Jonathan to call out the name of his attacks, and he has the most named attacks out of all the JoJos.
  Jonathan: "SUNLIGHT YELLOW OVERDRIVE!"
• Combat Pragmatist: Although to a much lesser degree than his descendants due to his gentlemanly heart, Jonathan is still willing to use tricks that can be viewed as "dirty" in a fight, if he needs to. He threatens to kick Speedwagon in the groin (though he backs down from the fight before Jonathan goes through with it), hides behind a curtain to surprise Dio with a sneak attack, setting him on fire, and during their penultimate fight, throws a handful of roses in Dio's face to distract him and attacks from Dio's right side, where he was previously blinded by Dire.
• Cool Sword: He gets Bruford's Luck and Pluck after defeating him in combat. And he uses it quite well combined with his Hamon to defeat Dio.
• Cosmic Plaything: Out of all the JoJos in the series, Jonathan is in contention for being the one that the universe hates the most. Not only does he have to deal with bullies and Dio growing up, but in the span of under a year he loses his father and his mansion to Dio and witnesses his new friend/mentor Zeppeli sacrifice himself for Jonathan. And right after he finally defeats Dio and marries Erina, he only gets five days worth of peace as Dio kills him and takes his body as his own, causing future problems for Jonathan's descendants in the process.
• Cultured Badass: He is THE gentleman of the Joestar family, though that doesn't stop him from being a powerful vampire-slaying Hamon user.
• Decoy Protagonist:
  • He counts as this for the entire rest of the series, having the shortest and easiest-to-explain part, while it's next to impossible to discuss the rest of the series without bringing up his untimely fate at the hands of Dio and the subsequent jump ahead a few decades. The bulk of the series focuses on his descendants.
  • According to Araki, Jonathan isn't the true protagonist of his part. Dio is, and Phantom Blood is about his Start of Darkness From Nobody to Nightmare.
• Defeat Means Friendship: His defeat of Speedwagon, his first enemy, and his decision to spare Speedwagon and his men earns him a loyal friendship that lasts over not just one but multiple generations of the Joestar family.
• Denied Food as Punishment: After one slip-up too many at the dinner table, George has a servant take away the rest of Jonathan's meal as punishment for his poor manners.
• Determinator: Zeppeli states that one of the reasons he could master Hamon in so little time is due to his unwavering devotion to justice. Dio realizes this is why he is so dangerous; no matter how much is thrown at him, Jonathan simply comes back stronger; and even when he gets beaten down, he keeps pushing on bravely.
• The Dog Bites Back: He's initially too timid to stand up to Dio, who goes above and beyond to make his life miserable. All that changes when Dio steals Erina's first kiss just to spite and hurt him; Jonathan snaps, confronts Dio at the mansion, and beats him to a bloody pulp, actually driving him to tears.
• Dork Knight: He was quite a dork as a youth, yet he's also courageous enough to protect those he loves from evil. He still has his moments as an adult, such as towards the end of Part 1 when he invites Erina (who he just married) to dinner, only to hit his head on the door because he's so tall.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: After Dio mortally wounds him, he saves the lives of his wife, unborn son, and the baby his wife is carrying from Dio, who he manages to trap under the sea for 100 years. In doing so, he ensures the Joestar bloodline will always be there to fight evil and protect the world.
• Empowered Badass Normal: He's a formidable boxer and very strong physically, and learning Hamon only makes him more formidable.
• Enhanced Punch: His default fighting style is channeling Hamon via his bare fists.
• Expy: He's over six feet tall and his body composition is mainly tightly-packed muscle. He's nice as a Boy Scout to people he meets. He also makes people explode; in his case, he does it to vampires by his fists of sunlight. Put all that together, and you get a serious Kenshiro expy. In the anime, he dresses and poses similarly too. Of course, since Araki himself has admitted that JoJo's Bizarre Adventure was partly inspired by Fist Of The North Star (especially in its early stages), it makes sense that the first JoJo would resemble Kenshiro a bit.
• Fighting from the Inside: Even though he's long dead by the time Stardust Crusaders rolls around, his body is still actively fighting back against DIO's control. Even after a century, DIO mentions that his body is still giving him trouble and he can't control it as well as he'd like. On top of that, DIO senses that Jonathan's body is sending out a distress signal to his descendants. This trope's presence is more apparent when DIO feeds on Joseph's blood — after doing so, DIO notices that his scars are healing much faster and the duration of his time stop ability jumps from 5 seconds to 9. If he had full control and Jonathan's body wasn't fighting back, DIO's time stop would likely have overwhelmed the Crusaders at the start of the fight.
• Genius Bruiser: His large size might give you the impression that he's a meathead, but he is quite intelligent, majoring in archaeology and becoming one of the top students at his university. He also is quite resourceful in a fight despite being Unskilled, but Strong.
• Gentle Giant: He's 195 centimeters (6'5") tall and heavily muscled, but he's also polite as a Boy Scout crossed with a choir boy. He's so well-mannered he uses the polite, non-threatening masculine personal pronoun "boku" to refer to himself, rather than the coarse, rude "ore" that Shounen manga leads are expected to use based on the genre.
• Gentleman and a Scholar: He's the gentleman of the Joestar bloodline and he's a very good university student who becomes an archaeologist.
• Good Is Not Soft: He may be a gentleman, but he doesn't let off evil easily; notably, he has Doobie's own snakes attack him and that's not even getting into how he beat Dio for humiliating his possible lover.
• Go Out with a Smile: As he dies from the wounds Dio inflicts on him, he smiles both at Erina and Dio himself.
• Greater-Scope Paragon: His Heroic Sacrifice in protecting Erina and his unborn son from Dio and trapping Dio in the sea for one hundred years ensures that the Joestar line will survive to combat evil in the future, and no matter how different the other JoJos are, they all carry that same heroic spirit even if they aren't aware of it. He also inspires Speedwagon to pull a Heel–Face Turn, which leads the latter to form the Speedwagon Foundation, an organization that helps the heroes throughout the rest of the series.
• Grew a Spine: During his childhood he's constantly beaten up and humiliated by Dio and is too timid to stand up to him. However, when Dio steals the Sacred First Kiss of Jonathan's Love Interest Erina, and then attacks her for immediately washing her mouth out with a muddy puddle, Jonathan personally confronts Dio at their mansion and beats him so brutally that Dio bursts into tears.
• Guile Hero: It’s not as pronounced as with his descendants, but Jonathan does win multiple battles because he thinks of something his opponents didn’t.
• Hair Color Dissonance: It's supposed to be brown in the manga, but the adaptations follow Araki's coloring scheme (read: can be absolutely anything), so sometimes it looks either black, green, or purple. The anime settles with blue to distinguish him from Joseph.
• Hair-Contrast Duo: Jonathan Joestar (brunet) and his adoptive brother/enemy Dio Brando (blond) are strongly contrasted: Jonathan is a dorky Nice Guy All-Loving Hero born in an aristocratic family, while Dio is an ambitious evil since birth Card-Carrying Villain born to the lower class. Jonathan wants to be "the perfect gentleman" and is willing to risk himself for strangers; Dio seeks to exploit and manipulate everyone for his own goals, culminating in his plan to take over the Joestar household (who willingly adopted him when his father died). As Jonathan and Dio gain supernatural powers, Jonathan wields Hamon to fight vampire Dio. Their appearances are further contrasted: Jonathan has Tareme Eyes and a blue shirt and is built like a Juggernaut, while Dio has Tsurime Eyes, red clothing and, in the anime, is more slender than Jonathan.
• Happily Married: He marries Erina after defeating Dio. If only for five days, the poor man.
• Healing Hands: By using Hamon, Jonathan can heal other living things with his hands.
• The Hero: His resolve to protect his family kicks off the whole story, and he's notably the main heroic individual of Part 1.
• Hero Antagonist: If Araki's word is to be believed and the true protagonist of Phantom Blood is not Jonathan, but actually the villainous Dio, then Jonathan is the part's heroic antagonist.
• The Hero Dies: He dies at the end of Phantom Blood after Dio fatally wounds him, but not before he uses his last strength to trap Dio and allows Erina to escape.
• Heroes Love Dogs: His most beloved childhood companion is Danny, his Great Dane. The two weren't just master and dog, they were best friends, which makes Dio's cruel murder of Danny all the more heartbreaking.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: After defeating Bruford, Jonathan inherits his sword "Luck" (which Bruford renames to "Luck and Pluck" before giving it to JoJo as a recognition to his valor). He goes on to use the blade (charged with Hamon no less) in his attempt to vanquish Dio.
• Heroic Build: The original art style Araki uses in the manga makes him look incredibly ripped. His physique has been downplayed or even removed in later illustrations due to Art Evolution. Sometimes, this is taken to an illogical extreme, as there are some full-body images of him that make it look like his head's too small for his body.
• Honor Before Reason: He's the only JoJo protagonist to be completely honorable. All of the others are Anti Heroes and Combat Pragmatists who are willing to either hit girls or do some rather unsavory/dirty tricks during a fight.
• Hot-Blooded: Not as much so as Joseph, but he does like shouting. Especially when he goes all out in battle with him screaming at the top of his lungs.
• Hunk: He's very handsome, manly and muscular, especially in the manga's original art style.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: He's larger and taller than his girlfriend Erina.
• Iconic Outfit: His most well-known outfit is the one he wore when storming Dio's castle to put an end to his tyranny. It consisted of a close-fitted tank top with capped sleeves, finger-less gloves that reach to his forearm, a back pack, a pair of very skin tight pants along with shin-high boots. The anime adds leather pauldrons that makes him look even more like Kenshiro.
• Ideal Hero: Jonathan is very much a gentleman, and firmly believes there is good in people, as well as believing in Honor Before Reason. Unfortunately, this makes him Genre Blind as he fails to see the Genre Shift until it's literally in his face.
• Impossibly Cool Clothes:
  • If the page image of him wasn't any tipoff, in the volume covers, he's seen wearing unbelievably amazing clothing. However, the clothes he wore, like many, many others in Hirohiko-brand fashion, gave up practicality for fabulousness. Doesn't make them any less awesome in the long run.
  • The clothes he wore in the actual story were much less showy and more practical than what he wore in the volume covers and chapter art. But they still look pretty nice.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: No matter how many terrible deeds Dio does to ruin his life, Jonathan never breaks and changes who he is. Even to the end of his life, he never bore true hatred towards his adopted brother and tried to see the best in him.
• In-Series Nickname: Many people in Phantom Blood refer to him as JoJo.
• Instant Expert: He masters Hamon in half a freaking day when it takes a lifetime for anyone else in Part 1.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Not in a literal sense (he's not a knight, although his family is nobility) but he ultimately proves himself to be a truly brave, honest and pure-hearted hero who champions the weak and innocent, especially women in distress.
• Light 'em Up: Once he learns how to use Hamon, he can conjure the power of the sun to destroy the undead. One notable signature technique Jonathan has is his SUNLIGHT YELLOW OVERDRIVE!, which is colored like sunlight.
• Lightning Bruiser: Unlike most of his descendants, Jonathan doesn't have a Stand to do the heavy lifting, so he essentially has to be strong and fast enough to fight Dio and his zombies, one of whom (Tarkus) wrecked a cliffside with his brute strength. Dio while possessing Jonathan's body also can match the physicality of Power-Type Stands like Star Platinum, suggesting that a prime Jonathan could have done the same.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Jonathan was one, being ostracized because of his wealth and only having his dog for a friend. Then Dio came along...
• Making a Splash: His Hamon technique Turquoise Blue Overdrive involves him sending waves of Hamon-infused water towards his enemies.
• Manly Man: Jonathan is the buffest protagonist in the series, loves his wife, and isn't afraid of shedding tears for those he cares about.
• Manly Tears: Jonathan sheds tears for Dio, even after he was defeated by his own hands.
• Meaningful Name: This JoJo shares his first name with another Jonathan who hunts down a vampire in 19th century England.
• Messianic Archetype: Aside from having a life that is exactly the opposite of being born in a manger, Jonathan fits. He's an All-Loving Hero who successfully converts a man of questionable morals to his side. He dies a Heroic Sacrifice that sees him explicitly forgiving his worst enemy. Even though he doesn't come back from the dead, his descendants serve as a sort of metaphorical resurrection.
• Next Tier Power-Up: He gets all of Zeppeli's Hamon energy as Zeppeli dies, powering him up enough to make paste of Dio's remaining minions and allowing him to stand up to Dio himself.
• Nice Guy: He's polite, earnest, and openly kind, especially compared to most of his jerky descendants who don't have these traits.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: After Dio forcefully kisses and assaults Erina, Jonathan delivers one to him that's so nasty, it drives him to tears. However, Dio pays him back in a much worse way.
• Not Quite Flight: He and Zeppeli use the Hamon technique Life Magnetism Overdrive to turn a bunch of fallen tree leaves into a makeshift hang glider.
• Not So Above It All: During his younger years, he shows some traits such as his lack of manners and hot-bloodedness that wouldn't be out of place with his descendants. He only mellows down as an adult due to his father's strict upbringing and the gentleman standards of his time period.
• Not Too Dead to Save the Day: In Part 3, Dio possesses Jonathan's body, but Jonathan's body hinders Dio's vampire abilities without further Joestar blood, consequently delaying Dio from reaching his full potential with The World.
• Official Couple: He becomes one with Erina near the end of Phantom Blood. It doesn't last long, since he dies on their honeymoon, but he does leave her a parting gift.
• Off with His Head!: By the time of Part 3, Dio has decapitated Jonathan's corpse to place Dio's own head- the only thing remaining of his original body- on the deceased Jonathan. While the series never indicates what happened to Jonathan's head afterwards supplementary material implies that Dio kept Jonathan's head as a bizarre memento of the one man Dio genuinely respected.
• Only Friend: Rather sadly, Dio acknowledges in his diary (the novel "Dio: Made In Heaven") that recalling how Jonathan held him with genuine love and friendship as he died, he has come to return the sentiment in full 100 years later. Nobody else, after all, has shown him that, except maybe Pucci.
• Papa Wolf: He rescues a little boy named Poco from Dio's zombies, and then saves Poco's older sister from being sexually assaulted by Doobie. Even when he's dying, Jonathan forces his wife Erina to rescue a baby instead of being Together in Death with him. it's a tragedy to think such a noble and caring father never gets to see his own son or grandchildren.
• Playing with Fire: His Hamon technique Scarlet Overdrive allows him to create a wave of fire.
• Plucky Girl: Rare Male Example. Jonathan is not just any Determinator; though he does have his moments of grief or rage, generally he keeps an upbeat, optimistic attitude in life and does Go Out with a Smile despite everything Dio had put him through. Lampshaded by Bruford, who renames his sword to "Pluck" before giving it to Jonathan.
• The Power of the Sun: He uses Hamon, a Supernatural Martial Art which uses a special breathing technique to create energy similar to that of the sun, making it super-effective against undead foes.
• Present Absence: He casts a shadow over every subsequent story arc. Speedwagon never forgets his kindness and becomes an Honorary Uncle to Joseph in Part 2, and Joseph in turn fights DIO in part (since his main objective is protecting his descendants) to avenge his late grandfather in Part 3. In addition, DIO's son Giorno in Part 5 was conceived whilst in possession of Jonathan's body, making him a Joestar by genetics. His redemption of and friendship with Speedwagon is also the reason why the future Joestars have the Speedwagon Foundation to supply them with vast resources to help them fight evil.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs:
  • He establishes the fine JoJo tradition of fist-mashing villains into a smooth paste when he beats tears out of Dio for forcing a kiss on Erina. They were both twelve at the time.
  • When he fights Bruford, he provides the Ur-Example of what JoJo is known for: souped-up, physically-impossible supernatural pummelings that put the "rapid-fire" in Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs.
    How my heart resonates! I'm pulsing with heat, and life! My very blood is a symphony within me!
    SUNLIGHT YELLOW OVERDRIVE!
• Screaming Warrior: He's very prone to screaming whenever he attacks his enemies.
  Jonathan: "SUNLIGHT YELLOW OVERDRIVE!!"
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: It's a Subverted Trope. His actions to sacrifice himself with Dio end up turning for the worst, as Dio manages to become more cunning and powerful by attaching his head to Jonathan's now dead body, seemingly making his sacrifice pointless. However, while he failed to kill his enemy, Jonathan succeeded in saving his pregnant wife and future daughter-in-law, and trapped Dio for 100 years. On top of this, he more than likely saved the world, or at least America, from a plague of vampires since there would've been no Ripple Users to stop Dio before he could be set loose and spread his corruption. As a direct result of Jonathan's final moments, the survivors continue the Joestar bloodline, making him responsible for every good deed the protagonists in the series accomplish, including the ultimate defeat of DIO.
• Shirtless Scene: During his fight with Tarkus, he ends up becoming shirtless.
• Signature Move: His most famous Hamon-based attack is his SUNLIGHT YELLOW OVERDRIVE!, a series of devastating sunlight-powered punches.
• Strong Family Resemblance: His descendants Jotaro and especially Joseph resemble him in terms of appearance.
• Super-Strength: As first with his Hamon training, most of Jonathan's ability came from pumping his foes and obstacles full of Hamon... Then came Zeppeli's Ultimate Deep Pass Overdrive, and Jonathan became so strong that he could absolutely manhandle Tarkus, a literal giant, as well as effortlessly crush the steel collar binding his neck that aforementioned giant outright said he had problems breaking.
• Swiss-Army Superpower: Hamon grants Jonathan abilities such as Super-Strength, a Healing Factor, Super-Senses, limited control over elements like fire and water, Mind Control, etc.
• Sympathy for the Devil: He's the only character in the entire franchise that could actually bring himself to genuinely like Dio in spite of all the horrible things that Dio does to him personally, save perhaps Dio's mother. And Pucci as well.
• Taking You with Me: He tries to pull this on Dio after Dio mortally wounds him by having a ship explode with him and Dio still inside. Although Dio survives by taking Jonathan's body as his own, he still saves his family and succeeds in delaying Dio for 100 years.
• Tareme Eyes: To contrast Dio's Tsurime Eyes. It reflects his idealistic nature.
• Tender Tears: He has a heart so sensitive and kind he sheds these for everyone, even his enemies.
• Testosterone Poisoning: Jonathan is so manly that he can RIP a metal collar, obliterate Tarkus, the most muscular character in the series (more so than the Pillar Men), and punch but not cripple a street thug!
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Jonathan was such a sweet and kind-hearted boy that his final moment on Earth was not filled with hate, but rather brotherly love for Dio as he tenderly hugged his disembodied head in spite of having been murdered by him, much like his own father was. Plus he told Erina to take care of a baby of a woman he has no connections with and have them escape going down with Dio because he felt pity for the infant who lost her mother, and this tops it off.
• Too Hungry to Be Polite: As a boy, he's a little too eager to eat, which causes him to gobble hastily and spill his wine, much to his father's chagrin. He grows out of it in adulthood.
• Took a Level in Badass: He originally allowed Dio to walk all over him. After a brief Time Skip, post Dio's Kick the Dog, he grew into a Badass Bookworm, and then he took another level during his training to master Hamon. After Zeppeli gives him his remaining Hamon energy before dying, he takes another level of badass enough to curb stomp any vampire with the ease of killing a tick aside from Dio himself.
• Tragic Hero: Jonathan did not have a good life. His childhood was all endless bullying from Dio. When he grew strong enough to beat Dio up, the latter decided to turn into a vampire afterward and continue to make trouble for him. In the end, he died at only his early 20s to protect his wife and unborn child from Dio and took him down with him.
• Trauma Conga Line: Dio puts him through the wringer, beating him at everything, stealing his girl's first kiss, burning his dog, and that's when he was twelve. Luckily, Jonathan defeats and humiliates him near the end of Part 1.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Jonathan only had about a week of training with Hamon, and though he was a quick learner with plenty of potentials, a lot of his strategies with it boiled down to simply "get in a position where I can use an Overdrive on whomever I'm fighting", unlike his more creative and resourceful grandson. He knew how to best apply his exceptional strength in combination with this, however, letting him overpower pretty much anyone once he actually was in a position where he could deliver a beatdown.
• Unstoppable Rage: Basically anytime he meets Dio in combat, as he is shown to stop hesitating with his power and will go all out in raging fury.
• Vocal Dissonance: Despite being very tall and muscular, he sounds as young and boyish as his son Giorno, in stark contrast with Joseph, Jotaro, and Josuke, who all have rougher and much deeper voices. However, this fits his gentlemanly and soft All-Loving Hero personality.
• Wife-Basher Basher: Bonus points for the girl he defended actually becoming his wife 8 years later!
• World's Strongest Man: The strongest JoJo, or even human period in the series, even as far as Part 9. Jonathan was already a mountain of a man, and the narrative played his incredible physical strength straight, his learning Hamon gave him superhuman powers on top of that. After recieving Zepeli's hamon, Jonathan became basically unstoppable as he was able to take down Dio's most powerful zombies in moments. In fact, feats of strength like his wouldn't even be replicated again until Jotaro and Star Platinum came around. Even if Dio still had a body on the ship, more than likely he would've still known to keep his distance and use the Space Ripper Stingy Eyes instead of trying to duke it out with JoJo directly. He's so strong that it's implied that he'd be an absolute nightmare with a proper Stand. In the games, some Stand users actually express relief that Jonathan doesn't have one.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Anytime it looks like Jonathan will get a happy ending, Dio and Araki will be there to ruin it all.
• You Don't Look Like You: All characters get this due to Art Evolution but while Araki's new artstyle makes them look similar, they retain their Iconic Outfits/Items. This is not the case with Jonathan, who is recently depicted with a scarf and Caesar's headband while Joseph (the one who is actually associated with both of those items) switched to pilot gear instead.

Robert E. O. Speedwagon

Robert E. O. Speedwagon

Voiced by: Yoji Ueda (TV anime, All-Star Battle (R), and Eyes of Heaven), Masaya Onosaka (Phantom Blood video game) (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English)
Played by: Young Dais (Phantom Blood musical)

"Living in the gutter, you learn to spot lowlifes pretty quick."

^{SPOILERS: Click here to see Speedwagon as he appears from "Sorrowful Successor" to "The Final Ripple!".}
"Got no time for tears... only anger. There'll be plenty of time to cry... once we've dealt with Dio."

^{Click here to see Speedwagon as he appears in Battle Tendency.}
"Not again! Why do they always have to have their lives taken?!"

"You're wrong! All that was good in that man, he passed it along to Jonathan, every bit of it! You can be sure JoJo's gonna live an upright life, using what his father gave him. Rich folks are rubbish. Watching 'em flounce around, I wanna throw the whole lot of them into the Thames! But not the Joestars. They're heroic and merciful and, just... the whole damn lot of them are giants among men!"

An Ogre Street thug who becomes Jonathan's best friend after taking a beating from him. After the events of Phantom Blood, he moves to the United States and strikes it rich as an oil tycoon. He's also the founder of the Speedwagon Foundation, an organization that aids the Joestar family throughout the series.

---

• Ambiguously Gay: He completely devotes his life to supporting Jonathan after gaining his friendship, extending said devotion to his descendants after Jonathan's untimely passing, all while never marrying himself (note that "he never married" in an obituary was a British euphemism for homosexuality). Meanwhile he's never shown as attracted to women aside from Joseph teasing him and Erina about having Unresolved Sexual Tension, though their reactions indicate that this is not the case. His biography in the manga also states that he "fell in love" with Jonathan's kind personality.
• The Artful Dodger: Speedwagon grew up in the slums of London on Ogre Street, and he learned at an early age to steal to survive. He easily became adapted to his surroundings, and was so in-touch with the street rats he grew up around, that he could tell how good or bad a person was merely by their smell. Granted, after he became acquainted with Jonathan, his life turned around very quick, and he eventually became a millionaire through his oil excavation, which allowed him to form the Speedwagon Foundation for the sake of helping humanity, but it's never explicitly shown if Speedwagon has a residence. He could very well still be living on the streets, the one place he knows like the back of his hand.
• Ascended Extra: While only a narrator in All-Star Battle, he's Promoted to Playable in Eyes of Heaven and is a prominent character in story mode. He also becomes playable in All-Star Battle's Updated Re-release, All-Star Battle R.
• Badass Normal: He's the only major character to fight alongside the Joestars to not have any super powers or powerful technology at all.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Highly hinted to be the reason for his Heel–Face Turn. Jonathan was the first person to show him any form of kindness.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: The anime left out the manga's explanation for the Germans putting him in a straightjacket in Part 2: that Speedwagon had broken a glass bottle and attempted suicide with it. Speedwagon does despairingly ask God why he was allowed to survive long enough for the Germans to interrogate him with Truth Serum, though.
• Big Good: Of Part 1, as he helps Jonathan Joestar on his journey to stop Dio Brando. Along with Lisa Lisa he also becomes this in Part 2.
• Breakout Character: He's one of the more iconic characters of the franchise, and his popularity gave him a major role in Eyes of Heaven's story mode.
• Butt-Monkey: He's the butt of the majority of the humor in Part 1, mainly because he can't use Hamon and the most he can do is comment on how terrifying Jonathan's opponents are as a result.
• Captain Obvious: He has a tendency to explain what attack someone is doing as they're doing it. This is made more apparent in the TV anime.
• Celibate Hero: The ending of part 2 states that before the events of part 3, he died of a heart attack at the age of 89, still single and unmarried.
• Cool Old Guy: In Part 2, he's an elderly man who nonetheless helps Joseph out greatly with the help of his company, the Speedwagon Foundation.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Played straight before being averted. In his fight with Jonathan, Speedwagon's Oddjob-style hat (implied to be of his own design) shows that he's pretty inventive for a criminal in the slums of London. Part 2 shows after his Heel–Face Turn, he used his own intelligence and resource to build himself a Fiction 500 company with an influence that extends all across the globe.
• Defeat Means Friendship: After Jonathan defeats him, Speedwagon is so impressed by his resolve that he undergoes a Heel–Face Turn and becomes Jonathan's loyal ally.
• Detect Evil: He claims to be able to smell evil and deduces that Dio is complete scum from it.
• Everyone Has Standards: Speedwagon may be the leader of a group of thugs when he is first introduced, but he only steals for survival. He immediately hates Dio because Dio is pure evil and enjoys it.
  "Dio is somewhere in this town! I can't forgive that bastard! I steal things, but he steals life!"
• Expository Hairstyle Change: By Part 2, he's lost his mullet and his hair is much shorter.
• Fiction 500: Speedwagon became filthy, stinking rich in between Parts 1 and 2 thanks to striking oil, which allows him create the resourceful Speedwagon Foundation.
• Foil: To Dio; both were urchins whose lives changed after they met Jonathan, but whereas Dio remains bad and only seeks to fulfill his own personal desires, Speedwagon becomes a better person and eventually goes on to gain all the wealth and status that Dio wanted while using it for good reasons.
• Freudian Excuse: Speedwagon led a very rough life on account of being born and raised in Ogre Street, a slum that housed only crooks and murderers, and being overlooked by the wealthier only caused him to resent them. Incidentally, he undergoes a Heel–Face Turn because Jonathan was the first person to even acknowledge how harsh his life was.
• Greater-Scope Paragon: Speedwagon himself is only in Parts 1 and 2, but the Speedwagon Foundation's resources are what allow the Joestars to fight evil so effectively all the way through Part 6. And the organization somehow makes its way into the Steel Ball Run setting in spite of being an entirely different universe.
• The Heart: His sheer emotional support and sensitivity towards Jonathan qualifies him for this being far more sensitive than even Erina.
• Heel–Face Turn: But only a heel because he had to be one to look after his destitute family on the uncaring streets of 19th-Century London, mind you.
• Hero-Worshipper: Jonathan's #1 fanboy.
• Honorary Uncle: To Joseph. (And, offscreen, to Joseph's father George.)
• Hot-Blooded: So much so, he can cure frostbite by literally using his chest... no, seriously.
• I Just Want to Be Badass: In Part 1, he tries to learn Hamon to be useful to Jonathan and Zeppeli. Zeppeli ends up failing in helping Speedwagon access Hamon, so he's not successful.
• The Lancer: To Jonathan.
• Large Ham: Even more so than Dio himself in Part 1, who spends each moment hamming his loyalty, passion etc. He gets a little better with age.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: When Stroheim gets ready to save the day all on his own for once, Speedwagon reminds the viewer that he isn't allowed to.
  "It was actually the Speedwagon Foundation that created those UV lights... but our boy does like to brag."
• The Load: Subverted. Even if he had absolutely no powers, he helps Jonathan and Zeppeli a lot during their battles against Dio's vampires. He even grabs a weapon and fights during Jonathan's final battle with Dio. In later parts, he continues to provide major help for the Joestar family with the Speedwagon Foundation.
• Love Redeems: A non romance example. Jonathan and Jonathan alone acknowledged the hardship Robert endured to protect his destitute family, and thereby became the first person to acknowledge his humanity.
• Mr. Exposition: Since he can't use Hamon, his primary role is to provide exposition as well as commentary during fights.
• Musical Theme Naming: He is named after REO Speedwagon.
• Nice Guy: Fifty years after Jonathan awoke his decency, the bloodthirsty thug and murderer Robert E.O. Speedwagon becomes a sweet-tempered and kindhearted old-gentleman who contributes tirelessly and endlessly to medical research and improving the lives of the destitute.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His Shut Up, Hannibal! about Dio and letting everyone know Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse is the final catalyst Dio needs to go full on Card-Carrying Villain and all the tragedy therein. Though it's justified anyway since Dio plans to kill Jonathan whether Speedwagon is present or not.
• Non-Action Guy: Not so much in his debut scene, but spends most of his remaining screen time being at the sidelines. It would make sense considering that Speedwagon is unable to learn Hamon and most of the enemies Jonathan and William fight against are powerful zombies and a vampire that can easily and permanently corrupt living beings.
• The Nose Knows: As he puts it, Speedwagon has trained himself to be able to smell the difference between good and bad people. Through this, he's able to inform Jonathan that Dio is just rotten to the core, Freudian Excuse or not.
• Not a Game: He objects to Zeppeli giving Jonathan the wine glass test in the middle of the Jack the Ripper fight by namedropping this trope, but backs down after Zeppeli explains himself and Jonathan passes the test.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: He's a skilled and competent fighter by the standards of ordinary humans. Compared with Hamon-users, zombies, vampires, nazi cyborgs, Pillar Men, and much later stand users... not so much.
• Rags to Riches: He starts off as a thug in the slums of London, but later strikes it rich in the oilfields of Texas. The Speedwagon Foundation he creates from his riches remains an important player in the later parts of the series.
• The Reliable One: Speedwagon and by extension his foundation are always there to aid the Joestar family no matter what.
• Scars Are Forever: He has a large scar across his face that lasts throughout his entire life.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Is almost never seen wearing something else than a suit and a hat, and even in Battle Tendency he still retains a similar attire.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: When Dio tries to use his abusive father as an excuse for his actions after being exposed for poisoning George Joestar, Speedwagon steps in and completely tears his argument apart, declaring that he can smell Dio's malice and that he was born evil. Notably, upon hearing this, Dio actually agrees with Speedwagon's assessment and fully embraces being evil, no longer trying to justify himself.
  Speedwagon: This fellow reeks of brimstone and blood worse than anyone I've ever laid eyes on! He is pure evil, right down to his very bones! Is he a victim of circumstance, you're wondering? Not on your life! He's been evil since he drew his first breath!
• Signature Headgear: Aside from his razor blade bowler, he inherits Zeppeli's hat when Zeppeli dies.
• Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: After surviving all of Part 1, he dies only two chapters into Part 2 to give Joseph Joestar personal motivation to fight against a vampirized Straizo. Subverted a few chapters later when he turns out to be Not Quite Dead.
• The Team Benefactor: From Part 2 onwards, he provides support for the Joestar family through his company.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Went from being a petty street thug in the uncaring streets of London to a lifelong friend of the Joestars and their allies.
• Uncle Pennybags: He dotes a lot on Erina and Joseph in Part 2. Joseph even calls him "Uncle Speedwagon".
• Undying Loyalty: Because of Jonathan's gentlemanly nature and kindness towards his comrades, Speedwagon is devoted towards helping Jonathan and his family for the rest of the series. This also extends towards the organization he's founded who will always aid the Joestars in their crusades.
• Weaponized Headgear: Much like Goldfinger's Oddjob, in the earlier portions of Part 1 he uses a hat with a blade hidden within it.
• Zerg Rush: Ogre Street, his unique fighting style in Eyes of Heaven and All Star Battle R, allows him to call in his friends to gang up on opponents.

William Anthonio Zeppeli

William Anthonio Zeppeli

Voiced by: Yoku Shioya (TV anime, All-Star Battle (R), and Eyes of Heaven), Rikiya Koyama (Phantom Blood video game and film) (Japanese), Joe Ochman (English)
Played by: Yoshihisa Higashiyama and Yusuke Hirose (Phantom Blood musical)

"There were no Vikings in the land of Norway, until the north wind blew in and created them."

^{Click here to see Zeppeli as he appears in the "Sorrowful Successor" opening flashback.}
"Master Tonpetty... read the waves of my life. Tell me how long I have. When is this life of mine going to end? Where does it end? How does it end?"

"Courage is to look your fear in the eye and know that it has no dominion over you! Fear scatters your breathing. When you toss your fear into the dust, breathing is the sword ever at your hip! Breathe with courage and you will never want for Hamon. Bravery is our birthright, lads!"

An eccentric Italian man who trained in the martial art of Hamon, a technique that allows control over force (for example, breaking a boulder by punching a frog sitting upon it — without harming the frog) and simulation of other energies (like sunlight) through controlled breathing. He accompanies Jonathan on his quest to kill Dio and teaches him the technique.

---

• Badass in a Nice Suit: He wears a suit, a bow tie and a top hat... And fights with this look without losing his hat!
• Camp Straight: Very apparent in the anime.
• Cool Old Guy: His Hamon training masks his age, so he's actually much older than Jonathan is. It doesn't stop him from being an efficient mentor and fighter.
• Cultured Badass: One of the more classy heroes.
• The Dandy: He's always dressed in fine clothing.
• Eccentric Mentor: While Zeppeli is a master of Hamon and trains Jonathan into a hardened Hamon user in a matter of days, he's also quite odd, varying moments where he sounds wise and mysterious, but sneezing on too much pepper the next moment.
• Expy: The Mentor, flamboyantly-dressed and of Mediterranean descent who is older than he looks, has an epic stache, and dies heroically to save his pupil brings to mind Ramirez from Highlander.
• Face Death with Dignity: He marches to his death with no fear, and only the slightest hesitation, knowing that he will pay the ultimate price for saving his protege.
• Gratuitous Italian: In the English Dub.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: A Hamon version. He kicks a zombie, sending Hamon into its body, into a group of other zombies dispersing the Hamon into all of them and destroying them.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Tarkus bisects him at the waist with a chain, although this doesn't stop him from having a nice long conversation while he dies.
• Improbable Weapon User: He kills zombies with wine of all things.
• Killed Off for Real: His death begins the sad legacy of the Zeppeli family, none of whom ever survive the story.
• Mentor Archetype: His role in the story is to serve as Jonathan's Hamon teacher.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Being Jonathan's mentor, his low chances of survival eventually catch up with him when he dies at Tarkus' hands, where he uses the last of his Hamon to help complete Jonathan's training. Interestingly, he was told that he would die if he helped Jonathan and he still decides to help.
• Named After Somebody Famous: He's named after Led Zeppelin, without the "N" at the end.
• Nice Guy: Zeppeli is loyal, nurturing, and ends up sacrificing himself with no hesitation to save Jonathan.
• Obi-Wan Moment: Even when he realizes he is about to face a sudden and horrific death, he does not seem to be too fazed by this and acts very casually with regards to life.
• Older Than They Look: Practicing Hamon has the effect of slowing down Zeppeli's aging. During his last moments, the effects of his Hamon training wear off, revealing his true age.
• Retcon: In the original print of Phantom Blood, Zepelli stated in his final moments that he was so obsessed with his pursuit of the Stone Mask that he never had the opportunity to start a family. This becomes contradicted by the introduction of his grandson Caesar in Battle Tendency, which resulted in Araki re-editing Zepelli's dialogue into him neglecting his family instead.
• Sacrificial Lion: It's more apparent in the manga because of the current anime's fast pace, but his death at the hands of Tarkus signals that Jonathan is reaching the end of his dangerous journey and provides Jonathan with the Next Tier Power-Up he needs to fight against Dio.
• Satiating Sandwich: Zeppeli is introduced to the series casually eating a sandwich with some extra pepper.
• Shout-Out: In a later interview, Araki notes that some of his physical features (namely his mustache) were based off of Iyami of Osomatsu-kun.
• Signature Headgear: Zeppeli own two hats, the most famous of which being a black and white checkerboard patterned top hat. Speedwagon inherits it after Zeppeli dies.
• Sins of Our Fathers: He is trying to stop Dio because his father was the one who originally found the Stone Mask and used its powers for evil.
• Trickster Mentor: Against Jack the Ripper, Zeppeli orders Jonathan to defeat him alone, while also holding a glass of wine without spilling any of it. Zeppeli soon reveals that he gave the wine to act as a radar to detect the zombie even in the dark tunnels leading to Windknight's Lot.
• Walk on Water: One of the abilities he can use as a Hamon master is walking on water, though Zeppeli sort of tiptoes across the surface rather than walk.
• Wine Is Classy: In the tunnel leading to Windknight's Lot, Zeppeli is seen constantly holding a bottle and a glass to sip wine from. It helps that he can weaponize the wine with his Hamon.

Tonpetty

Tonpetty

Voiced by: Tamio Oki (TV anime), Osamu Saka (Phantom Blood video game), Yoshisada Sakaguchi (Phantom Blood film) (Japanese), Michael McConnohie (English)

"In the region I call home, our custom is not to shake hands."

"Stranger... these eyes of mine have seen your future. If you pursue the mysteries of Hamon as my pupil, your fate is sealed. The day will come when this will be the death of you."

A Tibetan monk and Zeppeli's Hamon master.

---

• Bus Crash: Straizo has his position by Part 2, so Tonpetty implicitly died in the between time. Given no one discussed it, it was probably of natural causes.
• Cool Old Guy: He might be old, and Older Than He Looks because of Hamon's natural age reduction, but Tonpetty can still put up a fight.
• 11th-Hour Ranger: Along with his disciples, Dire and Straizo, he joins Jonathan's group right before the final fight with Dio.
• Master-Apprentice Chain: He is the oldest known Hamon user in the whole series, and acts as the starting point for at least two of these: Tonpetty -> Zeppeli -> Jonathan. Also, Tonpetty -> Straizo -> Lisa Lisa.
• Mentor Archetype: To Zeppeli, and to Dire and Straizo as well.
• Multiple-Choice Future: Though he predicts that Zeppeli is fated to die if he continues down his path, Tonpetty does try to dissuade him from continuing as he can live on if he chooses to give up training and settle down. The student refuses as his destiny is more important than his happiness.
• Named After Somebody Famous:
  • He is named after Tom Petty.
  • The Jorge Joestar novel gives him the full name Ngapoi Ngawang Tonpetty, after Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme.
• Old Master: He's the one who taught Zeppeli the art of Hamon.
• Sizeshifter: In the PS2 adaptation of Phantom Blood, one of Tompetty's moves has him inflate his hand to a massive size to then crush his opponent with.

Dire

Dire

Voiced by: Taketora (TV anime and All-Star Battle (R)), Yukitoshi Hori (Phantom Blood video game) (Japanese), Paul St. Peter (English)

"Dio, for his life, I now shall send you to the bowels of Hell itself!"

"Zeppeli is a dear old friend of mine. We have been through many trials together over the past 20 years."

One of Zeppeli's friends who trained under Tonpetty.

---

• Defiant to the End: In spite of having his body completely frozen and shattered, and therefore having been reduced to a mere head, Dire still has just enough energy to do a last act — grab a rose with his mouth, infuse it with Hamon and throw it right into Dio's eye, making him lose his composure on the spot.
• 11th-Hour Ranger: Along with Tonpetty and Straizo, he joins Jonathan's group right before the final fight with Dio.
• Lethal Joke Character: His Hamon ability seems to be an extremely slow kick, but it actually turns out to be an effective trap if an enemy takes the bait and gets too close.
• Let's You and Him Fight: How he meets Jonathan.
• Literally Shattered Lives: Dire gets frozen by Dio, then shattered into pieces.
• Mauve Shirt: He dies immediately after Dio uses his power, but does manage to inflict a blow before he passed on.
• Named After Somebody Famous: He and Straizo are named after Dire Straits.
• Not Quite Flight: In the fight against Dio, he uses his Hamon to lift himself into the air, helping set up his Thunder Cross Technique.
• Revenge Before Reason: He tries to avenge Zeppeli's death at the hands of Tarkus, one of Dio's underlings, by killing Dio himself, refusing to heed Jonathan's warnings that Dio is way too dangerous to just fight him head on. Needless to say it doesn't end well for him.
• The Worf Effect: Despite being competent enough to match Jonathan (if briefly), he is easily defeated and killed by Dio. Bad luck for him that Dio's Freezing Touch was the perfect counter to his Thunder Cross Technique. However, his final blow to Dio gives Jonathan a hint on how to defeat the former.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Just as he was being built up as a powerful ally against Dio, the latter kills him before he can do anything other than scratching his eye. Aside from this, all we know of him is that he was a fellow disciple of Tonpetti with Zeppeli.

Straizo

Straizo

Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita (TV anime and All-Star Battle (R)), Hiroaki Miura (Phantom Blood video game) (Japanese), Dave Mallow (English)

"Straizo's my name. No mercy!"

"We've only just arrived, but [Zeppeli] sent some time ago requesting our aid. He wrote about the Stone Mask, where it could be found and especially about the man who wears it."

Another student of Hamon alongside Zeppeli, who joins Jonathan on his quest to defeat Dio. He returns in Battle Tendency, albeit playing a very different role; see his folder on the Part 2 page for more info.

---

• Catchphrase: "I, Straizo, will show no mercy!"
• 11th-Hour Ranger: Along with Tonpetty and Dire, he joins Jonathan's group right before the final fight with Dio.
• Last-Name Basis: Possibly, since the novel Jorge Joestar gives his adoptive daughter's name as Elizabeth Straizo.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He's a good-looking man with elegant long hair in Phantom Blood. By Battle Tendency, though he's still a respectable-looking old man who keeps his hair tied in a ponytail, he becomes a vampire in the hopes of regaining his youth, power, and beauty.
• Named After Somebody Famous: He and Dire are named after Dire Straits.
• Older Than They Look: His knowledge of Hamon has let him age very gracefully, going from his twenties to seventies with just whitened hair to show for it.
• Parental Substitute: He's given the baby Erina saves to raise as his own. He raises the child into the Hamon master Lisa Lisa.
• Tranquil Fury: His default expression as he fights Dio's zombies in Part 1.
  "I will make him pay dearly for that."
• Warrior Monk: He's a Tibetan monk.

Allies

George Joestar I

George Joestar I

Voiced by: Masashi Sugawara (TV anime and All-Star Battle (R)), Tsutomu Isobe (Phantom Blood video game and film) (Japanese), Marc Diraison (English)
Played by: Tetsuya Bessho (Phantom Blood musical)

"I'm proud of you lads. You both turned out so well. Providence is too kind."

^{Click here to see George as he appears before the seven-year Time Skip.}
"Providence... sends me aid in the guise of a man!"

"JoJo has lost his mother as well. And you're the same age. You'll be thick as thieves soon."

Jonathan's father and Dio's adoptive father.

---

• Deliberate Values Dissonance: George's strict treatment of Jonathan was commonplace in the 1800s, when the gentleman style was enforced.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Tends to assume the best of everyone, including complete bastards like Dario or Dio Brando. He initially mistook Dario for his savior and this in turn brought Dio to his house. It's revealed later that he eventually learned of Dario's theft and tried to get the latter to pull a Heel–Face Turn, but he underestimated just how bad Dario really is.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed; he was tough on Jonathan while he was growing up because he wanted him to become a good gentleman but it's never implied that he was at all cruel, just strict.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Implied to have had this reaction as he was dying. Seeing Dio had tried to kill him via poison, and that he had treated Jonathan harshly as a child, made him feel he had failed as a father to both. He takes the attack on Jonathan for him and promptly dies after apologizing for failing them both.
• Nice Guy: Could never make himself hate Dio even after being poisoned and murdered by him, and with his last breath asked for him to be buried next to his real father with sincere love and compassion. That is except for the way he treated his son, especially when Dio comes to his household. He was nothing short of strict on Jonathan, punishing him for every little mistake. He does show some regret about it years later on when Jonathan is determined to search for a cure for his sickness, and when he takes the striking blow from Dio.
• Papa Wolf: While overly strict towards Jonathan, George still took a killing blow aimed at Jonathan by Dio.
• Parental Favoritism: Zig-zagged. When Dio comes to live with him, George seemingly falls into this, punishing Jonathan harshly for every little mistake while essentially letting Dio do as he pleased. At the end of his life, he acknowledges that this was a mistake- in fact, he was stricter on Jonathan due to having higher standards for his biological son- and had he been tougher on Dio, perhaps he wouldn't have turned out as bad as he did. Ironically, by being more strict with Jonathan, George viewed him as his son and heir, not Dio.
• Parents as People: He's extremely strict when it comes to raising Jonathan, due to the high standards of conduct at the time. He shows regret in later years for being too harsh and spends his last moments apologizing to Jonathan for how he treated him and apologizes to Dio for failing to be a better role model to him, even though he was more than kind to him.
• Pet the Dog: Despite showing to be strict with Jonathan when he was a child, George is sympathetic to Jonathan when his beloved canine companion Danny dies. He even had Danny buried before Jonathan returned home so that his son would be spared the pain of seeing Danny's mutilated corpse.
• The Pollyanna: Quite possibly the most kind-hearted and generous Joestar in the series aside from his son; considering the others include Jotaro, Joseph, Josuke, and Jolyne, it's quite the contrast.
• Sacrificial Lion: His death shows that Dio doesn't fuck around.
• Taking the Bullet: In Dio's attempt to stab Jonathan, George acted as a human shield and was stabbed in the back instead.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Speedwagon himself said as much when he wept for the death of this most decent and kind man.
• Tough Love: He's strict with Jonathan, but cares for him and wants him to grow up to be a respectable gentleman. He implies in his dying moments that his leniency with Dio was due to not treating Dio as a son.
• Turn the Other Cheek: Even after learning Dario stole his ring, he covers for the latter by claiming that the ring was a gift, all in the hopes that his kindness will cause the thief to reform. Needless to say, Dario didn't make much progress.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: He seems to think that he's in a Les Misérables situation where showing a criminal genuine kindness will be enough to make him change his ways. This approach doesn't work at all with Dario, who is simply confused by the gesture.

Erina Pendleton

Erina Pendleton/Erina Joestar

Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (TV anime and All-Star Battle (R)), Aya Hisakawa (Phantom Blood video game), Nana Mizuki (Phantom Blood film) (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English)
Played by: Miisha Shimizu (Phantom Blood musical)

Speedwagon: She makes a better Florence Nightingale than I do anyhow.

^{Click here to see Erina as she appears before the seven-year Time Skip.}
Narrator: A dark time in Jonathan's life was suddenly made brighter by love's growing embers.

^{Click here to see Erina as she appears in Battle Tendency.}
"It was 50 years ago... and still... those events... haunt us!"

"These tears that I'm crying are from joy. Joy that I am here with you."

A childhood friend of Jonathan's, and for a time his only friend due to Dio's attempts to ruin his life. While they grow apart, again, due to Dio's actions, she rekindles their relationship by tending to Jonathan after his and Dio's encounter in the Joestar mansion leading to a romance and eventual marriage.

In Battle Tendency, she is the guardian figure of her grandson Joseph following the disappearances of both of his parents.

---

• Affectionate Nickname: She inverts this trope, as she switches from calling her beloved person by his nickname "JoJo" to his real name Jonathan after marrying him. But later, long after he died, she uses his old nickname for her beloved grandson Joseph.
• The Cameo: In the opening for the anime adaptation of Stone Ocean, her childhood doll appears for a split second during the montage of objects from past parts.
• Childhood Friend Romance: She and Jonathan met when they were both 12 years old, and despite Dio's attempt to ruin their relationship, they eventually get back together years later and marry.
• Cool Old Lady: In Battle Tendency, Erina is in her 70s. She shows surprisingly progressive values for the time, accepting Joseph's African-American friend Smokey, and tolerates Joseph getting into a fight to defend him as long as he doesn't get bystanders involved.
• Girl Next Door: A kind and gentle Nice Girl who Jonathan befriended when he was 12 and ends up being his love interest.
• Go Out with a Smile: The ending of Part 2 describes that she died a peaceful death surrounded by her loving family and friends.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Not only blonde, but saves a child of a woman that she didn't even know at the behest of Jonathan. And not to mention her treatment of Smokey (an African American) as an equal, which made especially clear since it was during the 30s, when racism was still abundant.
• Her Heart Will Go On: Never remarried after Jonathan's death.
• I Was Quite a Looker: While she still looks pretty good for someone in her 70's, it's clear that age and personal tragedies have taken a toll on her.
• Nice Girl: Erina is a very sweet, caring young woman who is every bit the Proper Lady. Even as an old woman, though significantly more stern, she was still the caring person she had always been.
• Official Couple: She's Jonathan's Love Interest, and following his victory over Dio, the two get married.
• Outliving One's Offspring: The poor woman not only loses her newlywed husband, but also her son George, and for a while her grandson.
• Racist Grandma: Thankfully defied. Erina Joestar is truly a woman ahead of her time, as even though she was raised in Victorian England, an era famous for the advent of scientific racism, she not only treats Smokey (an African American) with as much love and respect as she would any of her white friends, but takes him in and treats him like family. Mind you, this progressive attitude is not shared by most other 1930's Americans even in the JoJoverse, as made painfully clear by a racist restaurant patron in Episode 10. Erina's response to said racism is also very telling: she basically sics Joseph on him.
• Rescue Romance: When they were children, she first met Jonathan when he stood up for her against two mean boys who stole her doll, laughed at her and made her cry. Even though he got beaten up for his efforts, she was touched by his kindness towards her and they became friends, and eventually fell in love during their adulthood.
• Romancing the Widow: Joseph asks her if this happened with Speedwagon and her after Jonathan's death. She hits him with her umbrella for being inappropriate.
• Sacred First Kiss: Dio forcibly kisses her as a child, throwing a wrench into her relationship with Jonathan.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Erina's attitude is a bit tougher than one would expect from a Victorian lady, as seen from her indirectly insulting Dio by washing her mouth with dirty water after he kisses her. Fans like to joke that the succeeding JoJos got their impolite attitudes from her. The fact that she manages to survive at sea after a shipwreck while pregnant and looking after a baby that isn't even hers probably accounts for her toughness as well.
• Someone to Remember Him By: She conceives her and Jonathan's son during the five days they were married.
• Small Role, Big Impact: To put it bluntly, she is what allowed the Joestars to even continue as a family. Her importance is reflected in Part 3, where despite being dead for many years, part of Joseph's motivation to defeat DIO is to bury Jonathan's body for her.
• Tranquil Fury: When another customer at a restaurant begins heaping racist abuse on Smokey, Joseph asks if she wants him to ignore it. With barely-contained malice, she gives him the go-ahead to do what he sees proper, with the only caveat being that he shouldn't interfere with any of the other customers.
• Widowed at the Wedding: Her first night as Mrs. Joestar ends with her escaping a sinking cruise ship with a newly orphaned little girl, after her husband dies from being mortally wounded by Dio.

The Inspector

The Inspector

Voiced by: Takashi Nagasako (TV anime), Masaru Ikeda (Phantom Blood film) (Japanese), Joe J. Thomas (English)

An unnamed inspector of Scotland Yard and an acquaintance of George Joestar. It turns out that he was once a police officer who had arrested Dario Brando when he tried to pawn off George's stolen ring.

---

• Cruel and Unusual Death: He gets the top half of his head ripped off by Dio after the latter became a vampire.
• It's All My Fault: After seeing George take a blow from Dio that was meant for Jonathan, the inspector laments that had he not exiled Dario Brando to prison, he believes the tragedy that befell the Joestars might not have happened.
• Properly Paranoid: He rightly tells George that Dario Brando would never change his ways.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: As he himself noted, had he been more assertive in sending Dario Brando to prison, George would not have needed to owe Dario a damn thing, and his son Dio would not have been adopted into the Joestar family. Not only that, Dario's absence from Dio's life might've led to him having a better upbringing under his mother (whom Dario would force to work into an early grave) and avoid becoming the vindictive monster we know today.

Poco

Poco

Voiced by: Yumiko Kobayashi (TV anime), Daisuke Sakaguchi (Phantom Blood video game) (Japanese), Amanda Céline Miller (English)

"I have to keep her safe, no matter what!"

"Oh no! This is all so frightening, I think I wet myself! This village was safe, until these men arrived. I'm in danger here!"

---

• Cowardly Lion: Too scared to fight for himself, but ultimately lends a hand in defeating Tarkus by being the only one small enough to fit inside the passage to pull the lever to get Zeppeli and Speedwagon in.
• Mooning: When he first steals from the heroes (under Dio's hypnosis), he taunts them this way. Also does this to taunt Tarkus when Jonathan, Zeppeli, Speedwagon and him escape on an improvised leaf glider.
• Musical Theme Naming: Possibly named after the country-rock band Poco.
• Tagalong Kid: He starts off trying to pickpocket the heroes, having been used by the vampires in order to lure them into a trap, but ends up accompanying the heroes throughout the Windknights Lot portion of the Part.

Poco's Sister

Poco's Sister

Voiced by: Aya Endo (TV anime), Junko Hagimori (Phantom Blood video game) (Japanese), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English)

"Poco, really? You're letting these kids bully you again?"

"Pain's not the worst thing. There's something far worse. It's growing up being too afraid to do anything! What kind of a life would that be?"

---

• Big Sister Instinct: She first appears in Poco's flashback from when he was provoked by other kids. She suddenly appears and scares away the boys who bully him, and asks him when he will stop being a coward and start fighting back.
• Bitch Slap: To Poco for being a coward and to Dio when she refuses his offer to join him.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Again, she slaps Dio.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Dio attempts to seduce her into joining him in immortality. He uses the metaphor of a rose which is beautiful, but withers with age and dies. She refuses Dio's offer and slaps him, calling him a cursed monster.
• No Name Given: Her name is unknown.
• Palette Swap: She practically resembles Erina Pendleton, with the exception of hair colour.
• Plucky Girl: From what can be seen in the anime and manga, she is very independent and loving, but can also be serious.

Villains

Dio Brando

Dio Brando

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (TV anime, All-Star Battle (R), Eyes of Heaven), Hikaru Midorikawa (Phantom Blood video game and film) (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (TV anime) (English)
Young Dio voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (TV anime), Kenji Nojima (Phantom Blood video game) (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (TV anime) (English)
Played by: Mamoru Miyano (Phantom Blood musical)

"JoJo, it was hubris that led me to this ignominious end. This fall from grace has taught me well. However one may scheme and dissemble, my downfall this night is part of the human condition. ...A condition I now forsake!"

"You were a fool to attack me. I have disowned my weakness in favor of life everlasting!"

The main antagonist of Phantom Blood.

Originally a scornful child of a petty thief in 1880s England, after poisoning his own father, he is adopted by George Joestar and makes it his goal to utterly ruin Jonathan's life in order to become the estate's sole inheritor. When that plan fails, Dio ends up using the Stone Mask to become a vampire and plans to take over the world for himself

---

See DIO for tropes on him

Brats

Brats

Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka & Ryōta Asari (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English)

"Who is this idiot? Gettin' in a fight for a girl he don't even know?"

"That's our Dio! He's got way more guts than we do!"

A pair of bullies who were first seen tormenting Erina and easily beating Jonathan for trying to defend her. Later seen accompanying Dio when he stole Erina's Sacred First Kiss from Jonathan.

---

• All Men Are Perverts: When they get their hands on Erina's doll, they exclaim about taking its clothes off and "seeing if it looks like the real thing!"
• The Bully: They're first introduced stealing Erina's doll and threatening to peel its clothes off.
• Everyone Has Standards: Although they are introduced gleefully bullying Erina, they seem taken aback when Dio backhands her for washing out her mouth with dirty water after he kisses her.
• No Name Given: Neither of their names are mentioned. The wiki simply refers to them as "brats."
• Promoted to Playable: In the PS2 Phantom Blood game, they are playable for two fights in Extra Battle Mode.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: These two aren't seen again after Dio kisses Erina.

Bruford

Bruford

Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (TV anime), Nobutoshi Canna (Phantom Blood video game), Toru Nara (Phantom Blood film) (Japanese), Tony Oliver (English)

"My hair's 'Dance Macabre' has claimed many. HAVE AT THEE!"

"Now, we will fight in our native element! It is by mastery of our arts and strength of our spirits that we wage this duel!"

A knight who served under Mary, Queen of Scots, raised from the dead as Dio's minion.

---

• Blood Knight: He quickly realizes Jonathan is a Worthy Opponent and asks Dio permission to duel him because he wants to test his and JoJo's mettle in combat.
• Combat Pragmatist: Although he's an honorable warrior, he'll still use pragmatic strategies to win such as using his hair and trying to trap Jonathan underwater to hinder his Hamon.
• Dub Name Change: In the English localization, he is renamed as Blueford.
• Dying as Yourself: He respects Jonathan's power as he kills him, and when Bruford lays dying, it's clear he's once again the noble knight who sacrificed himself for his queen long ago rather than the undead monstrosity Dio created. Though Bruford is one of the few zombies who maintains his humanity when risen again, it was his dying moments that affirmed his chivalry.
• Face Death with Dignity: When Jonathan kills him with Hamon in his zombie state, Bruford thanks Jonathan for being an honorable warrior, is at peace with his own death and provides Jonathan with his sword out of respect.
• Fallen Hero: Along with Tarkus, he used to be a brave self-sacrificing knight before Dio raised him from the grave.
• Graceful Loser: He shows utmost respect to Jonathan for defeating him and helping him regain his humanity, enough to give Jonathan his sword.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He and Tarkus both served as loyal retainers to Queen Mary, making them very close allies. At least until Dio revives them as zombies.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Twice. He first tries to give himself an advantage against Jonathan by setting up their battle underwater, but Jonathan finds a reservoir of air bubbles underwater, which he uses to breathe and launch a Hamon attack at Bruford (water itself acting as a conductor of Hamon), with the knight barely dodging it. He then has JoJo strangled and tied to a tree, but again Jonathan finds the strength to free his legs and blocks Bruford's sword attack with a foot, using that same foot to send Hamon through the sword into Bruford's arm, melting it.
• Honor Before Reason: Averted. While he is an honorable and noble knight as well as a fair fighter and good sport, he is pragmatic enough to not fight Hamon head on and uses strategies that hinder it, such as fighting underwater where Jonathan can't perform the special breathing techniques required to use Hamon.
• Leitmotif: "Knights of Terror", a heavy Progressive Rock track, is his Leitmotif, which he shares with Tarkus.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Compared to his partner Tarkus, he's slightly less malicious, coming to see Jonathan as a Worthy Opponent and reverting to the more noble and honorable person he used to be before his death.
• Named After Somebody Famous: He's named after former Yes drummer Bill Bruford.
• Noble Demon: While he's a zombie servant of Dio and harbors personal hatred towards humanity, he kills a zombie going after Jonathan because he considers the latter a Worthy Opponent after destroying his hair.
• Prehensile Hair: Apparently he had this ability even before he became a zombie. Curiously, this power is very similar to Yukako Yamagishi's stand Love Deluxe, though no known connection exists.
• Senseless Sacrifice: He originally died when he sacrificed his life hoping to save his queen, only to discover it was a trap and she was already dead.
• Take Up My Sword: Because Jonathan restores his humanity after defeating him, he gives his sword "Luck" to Jonathan and renames it to "Pluck" as he dies.
• Undying Loyalty: Originally he's wholly devoted towards his queen, Mary, so much that he was willing to be executed to spare her life. He then becomes as devoted Dio after his resurrection as a zombie.
• Villainous Valor: As Jonathan notes, even as a zombie, he still retains a great deal of his warrior spirit.
• Worthy Opponent: He views Jonathan as one after he destroys his hair with Hamon, killing another zombie who tries to attack Jonathan and requesting that he fight Jonathan alone.

Tarkus

Tarkus

Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (TV anime), Daisuke Gōri (Phantom Blood video game), Yoshinori Sonobe (Phantom Blood film) (Japanese), Jamieson Price (English)

"Taking a life's an art form, and I'm a master."

"[Bruford] liked winning his fights with thinking! I just hit 'em 'til they fall to pieces! What use have I got for 'clever'? I carry a sword as tall as a man! None of you will get an easy death!"

Another knight who served with Bruford.

---

• Ax-Crazy: Unlike Bruford, who is more of a Blood Knight and is thus immediately interested in dueling Jonathan while paying no attention to Zeppeli or the others, Tarkus manifests glee at the prospect of violence and killing victims, and takes pride, not in besting his opponents but in taking their lives. Just read his quote above.
• BFS: His main weapon is a huge sword bigger than a man.
• The Brute: Relies on Super-Strength and his surprising agility, and is undoubtedly crueler than Bruford.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Is initially dishing one out against Jonathan, nearly killing him before Zeppeli intervenes only to get killed himself, but his intervention allows Jonathan to turn the fight into a stomp in his favor.
• Dub Name Change: In the English localization, he is renamed as Tarukus.
• Evil Is Bigger: He towers over everyone else in the main cast.
• Evil Red Head: In the anime, his hair is notably red.
• Evil Sounds Deep: With Tetsu Inada as his voice actor, a deep, gruff voice is part and parcel.
• Fallen Hero: Same as Bruford, but more so than him as Tarkus gets a little too Drunk with Power and treated his partner like trash when he died.
• Fangs Are Evil: He's got vicious vampire fangs and they're a lot more pronounced on him than less evil Bruford. He even weaponizes them by grounding down hard enough to break two off and spitting them at Jonathan as makeshift dart projectiles.
• Genius Bruiser: Very smart despite being The Brute.
• Hero Killer: Kills Zeppeli as he tries to rescue Jonathan.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He and Bruford both served as loyal retainers to Queen Mary, making them very close allies. At least until Dio revives them as zombies.
• Horns of Villainy: He wears a horned helmet and is rotten to the core.
• Implacable Man: Despite not having a Healing Factor and being a rotting corpse, he can take a lot of damage.
• Leitmotif: "Knights of Terror", a heavy Progressive Rock track, is his Leitmotif, which he shares with Bruford. Notably, it's strongly inspired by the Emerson, Lake & Palmer song Tarkus is named after.
• Lightning Bruiser: Hits fast and hits very hard.
• Made of Diamond: Back when he was alive, his executioner broke a hundred axes trying to behead him.
• Senseless Sacrifice: He originally died when he sacrificed his life hoping to save his queen, only to discover it was a trap and she was already dead.
• Shout-Out Theme Naming: He is named after the Emerson, Lake & Palmer album Tarkus.
• Super-Strength: Enough to demolish a cliff side.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Goes from being Bruford's friend in life to becoming Drunk with Power and treating his remains like garbage.
• Undying Loyalty: Basically Bruford with the Jerkass elements taken to an extreme level.
• Unskilled, but Strong: While he's smarter than he looks, he favors power over technique, as expressed in his quote.
• Would Hurt a Child: Tries to kill Poco when he crawls into the room he and Jonathan are fighting in. Even though Jonathan saves Poco, Tarkus manages to kick Poco in the face.

Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper

Voiced by: Naomi Kusumi (TV anime), Hisao Egawa (Phantom Blood video game) (Japanese), Paul St. Peter (English)
Played by: Yamato Kochi (Phantom Blood musical)

"PREPARE FOR THE CARNAGE!"

"Time for the slaughter, naughty little pigs! I'll cut you to shreds, one by one!"

A serial killer who stalks the streets of London and murders women. He meets Dio Brando and is transformed into a Zombie and sent to fight the Joestar Group.

---

• Ax-Crazy: More like knife crazy, but you get the point.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: ZOMBIE JACK THE RIPPER! Though, unusually for this trope, he only became a supernatural being after doing what made him famous.
• Exotic Weapon Supremacy: What the hell is that big metal-sword-jaws-on-a-hinge thing he fights Jonathan with?
• Historical Villain Upgrade: Dio turns him into a zombie after sensing a kindred spirit in him. This helps explain why he was never caught and identified — Jonathan's Hamon disintegrated him before that could happen.
• Psycho Knife Nut: To the point that, after becoming a zombie and thus no longer running on biological processes, but on pure will and power, he implants a mess of knives in his body.
• Self-Mutilation Demonstration: Casually slices off his pinky and shoves a scalpel all the way through his cheek to the other side of his head.
• Warmup Boss: While fought a ways into Phantom Blood, he is quite literally used as a final test for Jonathan by Zeppeli.

Wang Chan

Wang Chan

Voiced by: Hiroshi Naka (TV anime and All-Star Battle (R)), Kazumi Tanaka (Phantom Blood video game), Jun Itoda (Phantom Blood film) (Japanese), Doug Stone (English)
Played by: Jumpei Shimada (Phantom Blood musical)

Jonathan: This man confessed to selling you the poison you used on Father.

^{SPOILERS: Click here to see Wang Chan as he appears in "The Final Ripple!".}
"With Jonathan Joestar, I shall scoop out what little brains you have with my bare fingers!"

"[Dio] won't see the inside of a cell this night. I read his face and the trio of moles on his ear. The Devil smiles on him and grants him luck."

A Chinese apothecary who sells Dio poison to use on George. Upon Dio becoming a vampire, Wang Chan becomes his zombie minion.

---

• Chekhov's Gunman: Jonathan uses Hamon to control Wang.
• The Dragon: In a way, since he is Dio's first and also final minion.
• Dragon Their Feet: Disappears for a while before bringing Dio's head onto the boat in the finale.
• Dumb Muscle: Dio has to walk this moron through everything.
• Genre Blindness: To contrast Dio. If he had half a brain, Dio would have taken Jonathan's body without any trouble at all.
• Informed Attribute: Speedwagon says he dangerous and shouldn't be messed with. We never got to see what he does or why during his human phase.
• Magical Asian: Wang Chan is an evil version, being part medicine man who sells poison to Dio, and part fortune teller who tells his that his ear birthmarks are signs of good luck.
• Named After Somebody Famous: He is named after Wang Chung.
• Off with His Head!: How he was defeated and killed.
• Primal Stance: Walks and jumps around like a monkey.
• The Renfield: Of all of Dio's followers, he fits this trope the most.
• Too Dumb to Live: Seriously! Dio kept on telling him not to underestimate Jonathan and just kill him, but does he listen? No...
• Took a Level in Dumbass: He was much more cunning as a human than as a zombie. Probably because Dio brainwashed him to be subservient and took away some of his duplicity in the process to ensure unwavering loyalty.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Jonathan destroyed his head, leaving his body intact. He then pumped Hamon into the man's body and used its vampiric strength to restrain the screw shaft of the steam-powered paddleboat the whole group was on, causing a tremendous explosion when it backed up the boilers.
• Wolverine Claws: Uses a pair in a manga-only fight with Jonathan.
• Yellow Peril: He looks the part, but he's really only concerned with running a business. Until Dio turned him into a minion.

Adams

Adams

Voiced by: Hidenori Takahashi (TV anime) (Japanese), Anthony Hansen (English)

"You can't escape me with your human speed!"

"I have a taste for some fresh, warm blood!"

---

• Curb-Stomp Battle: Defeated with a single kick from a freshly powered-up Jonathan.
• Game Face: How it's revealed that he's one of Dio's zombies.
• Musical Theme Naming: He is named after either the singer Bryan Adams or English rock musician Adam Ant and/or his band Adam and the Ants.
• Overly-Long Tongue: Displays this after being introduced, signaling to audience that he's an underling of Dio.

Doobie

Doobie

Voiced by: Yuichi Ishigami (TV anime) (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English)

"Run, run, run!"

"Bit surprised, aren't ya?"

---

• Curb-Stomp Battle: Although he's a huge zombie with snakes in his head, he's killed rather easily by Jonathan without much trouble. The only thing Doobie managed to do was to have his head's snakes bite Jonathan but then the latter quickly expelled the poison out of his bloodstream, just like that.
• Eaten Alive: In a rather dark course of action, Jonathan has his own snakes devour him.
• Eye Scream: The first punch Jonathan strikes him with knocks out an eyeball. This, of course, results in the reveal that he has snakes inside his head.
• Monstrous Humanoid: A tall, muscular humanoid with a very ''un-''humanlike face. He's also covered in a dripping liquid of unknown origin.
• Named After Somebody Famous: After the American rock band, The Doobie Brothers.
• Nightmare Face: His face is full of snakes.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Has venomous snakes coming out of his face which he uses to poison victims.

Jones, Bonham, Page, Plant

Jones, Bonham, Page, Plant

From left to right: Plant, Page, Bonham, and Jones.

"Needle Vein Strike!"

Four of Dio's zombie minions.

---

• Adaptational Attractiveness: The anime made Plant's design a lot more compact and snake-like while the manga art he was much more of a deformed mess.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: As soon as they introduce themselves, Straizo traps them all in a chandelier and sends Hamon through it, instantly vaporizing them all at once.
• Dub Name Change: Bonham's name is changed to Bornnam in English localizations.
• Named After Somebody Famous: They are named after the members of Led Zeppelin.
• Nightmare Face: All of them, especially Jones and Page.
• Nonstandard Character Design: While most of the other zombies can look human for the most part, these four guys look like aliens, monsters, or even demons.
• Two-Faced: Bornnam, as the left side of his face is an another face entirely.

Neutral

Dario Brando

Dario Brando

Voiced by: Tadashi Miyazawa (TV anime), Koji Yada (Phantom Blood video game), Kazuhiro Ozawa (Phantom Blood film) (Japanese), Steve Kramer (English)
Played by: Kong Kuwata (Phantom Blood musical)

"Get out of here! And don't come back until you found me some booze!"

"Hey! Lend a hand! Help me yank out his pearly teeth! They'll fetch a pretty copper!"

Dio's father, an abusive drunk and petty thief.

---

• Abusive Parents: No wonder Dio turned out the way he did.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: In the Phantom Blood film. Even though it would be a stretch to call him a looker, he does appear to be slightly easier on the eyes and less Gonk-ish.
• The Alcoholic: A lot of his abuse to Dio happened when he was drunk.
• Alliterative Family: His son is named Dio and one of his grandsons is named Donatello.
• Asshole Victim: Arguably the only victim of Dio who really had it coming.
• Bald of Evil: While he does have some hair in the manga, the 2012 adaptation gives him extreme male pattern baldness in comparison.
• Beard of Evil: Complete with Bald of Evil, he looks very old for a father of the handsome Dio.
• Establishing Character Moment: When he stumbled upon the Joestar family's wrecked carriage, one of the first things he tried to snitch was Mary's wedding ring, noting that she wouldn't need it anymore now that she was history.
• Expy: Of Monsieur Thernadier from Les Misérables, a crooked scavenger who inadvertently saved a nobleman from death when he was actually trying to rob him, which leads to said nobleman feeling like he owed a debt to him. Unlike Thernardier, however, Dario doesn't become a Karma Houdini thanks to Dio poisoning him for all the abuse he inflicted.
• Fatal Flaw: Greed. Dario was a thief by trade who bagged a wife for mostly selfish reasons. He did love her, but he worked her like a slave until she dropped dead because nothing was ever enough for him. Dio blamed Dario for all their current misery and squalor, then finally decided to punish him with a lethal implement of poison.
• Greater-Scope Villain: To some extent, while otherwise just being an ordinary crook compared to later villains.
  • If a petty pick-pocket, a nobody in the grand scheme of the universe, had instead been a Doting Parent who worked hard and treated his family with kindness all his life, Dio Brando, The Tyrant who remade The World, would have grown up to be just another honest yet equally faceless laborman in Victorian London...
  • And more importantly; the Joestar/Kujo family's legacy as Warriors and Heroes would never have been awakened without him finding George, accidentally saving his life, which in turn led to Dio's vicious bullying of Jonathan in childhood. Like father, like son, after all. Though linking with the above, even if the Joestar/Kujo's legacy would never awaken, no threats would come to the world because Dio would grow to be a honest man. Well, except for the Pillar Men...
  • And outside the Brando/Joestar feud, if Jonathan hadn't been on Ogre Street looking for the source of Dio's poison, he wouldn't have met and befriended Robert Speedwagon, who would've perhaps stayed a petty street gangster instead of the CEO of The Speedwagon Foundation, which would not have been around to research the stone masks nor their connection to the Pillar Men, who might've awakened with nothing and no-one to stop them. Granted, there is still the Zeppeli bloodline that knows its threat and the means to combat it (Hamon), but without the Joestars (Since Will agreed to teach Jonathan in the first place because of his involvement with the Stone Mask, in addition of his history with Dio) or the Speedwagon foundation to enforce them, they will most likely fail.
• Hate Sink: From his abuse of his wife and son, attempts to milk George Joestar's kindness for what it's worth, and overall smug behavior, Dario has very few genuinely likable qualities.
• Jerkass: Treated his wife like crap, and even wanted to sell her dress after she died to get money, having no compassion for her at all. Dio didn't take kindly to this.
• May–December Romance: He basically met his wife at a bar and sweet-talked into going along with his schemes when she really didn't want to be involved but still clung to him out of gratitude. It was definitely the worst and last mistake she ever made, as Dario gained an entitled hold over her and treated her like a slave until she dropped dead from exhaustion.
• Meaningful Name: Dario is the father of Dio.
• Pet the Dog: Ironically, his one act of kindness and fatherly love, wanting the best for Dio and giving him a bright future, is what (indirectly) caused countless tragic deaths, atrocities, and eventually the destruction and recreation of the entire Universe.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • When grave robbing the Joestars' carriage, he finds a case containing the stone mask, but dismisses it as creepy and worthless to steal.
  • He doesn't do anything to dispel the illusion that George's life was saved by him, even if at the time it would've been easy to simply rob him and run off before anyone else came running around. This helps him in the long run, as he gets bailed out of jail by the man without any consequences what so ever. And later allows Dio to be adopted as intended.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: When Dio offers him some "medicine" Dario snaps at him, saying that "this snake oil" does him no good. Of course, he didn't know that was actually poison and that his son was slowing killing him.
• Robbing the Dead: His attempt to steal Mary Joestar's wedding ring from her literal cold, dead hands should let you know what kind of scumbag this guy is.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: See Pet the Dog above.
• Younger Than They Look: He's in his 50s, but looks to be much older, especially in the 2012 adaptation. It's probably justified due to his rough lifestyle and excessive alcoholism.

Dio's Mother

Voiced by: Aiko Iwamura (TV anime)

Dario: You're weak, just like your mother!

"[Dario] drove her to an early grave! Knowing that cursed blood flows through my veins, IT'S ENOUGH TO DRIVE ME MAD!"

— Dio Brando

Dio's mother, heavily implied but never outright confirmed to be the female accompanying him at the carriage wreck. She was a woman he met in a bar who was reluctant to go along with Dario's schemes, but he later persuaded her to follow through with them. This decision led to romance and the birth of her son Dio, but ultimately, being drawn into Dario's corruptive existence backfired and resulted in her downfall when he exhausted her to the point she became sick and died.

---

• The Chew Toy: DIO considers her this in Over Heaven. Despite her best to be a nice person, she was constantly being abused by everyone in town or by her husband, which made DIO feel disgusted at her weakness of heart.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: Dio thinks so highly of her that it stands to reason that had she not died in his youth, he would've turned out a very different man.
• Establishing Character Moment: Opposing the idea of stealing Mary Joestar's wedding ring.
• The Ghost: If she really isn't the woman Dario was with at the wreckage.
• Horrible Judge of Character: She initially paired up with Dario because she liked his companionship... and then when she got further involved with him and had a son, Dario started to reveal his ugliest qualities and used that duty she now had to raise their son as an excuse to make her slave away at whatever he wanted.
• Impoverished Patrician: According to Over Heaven, DIO suspected she may have been from a noble family, which would explain the education he got from her that allowed him to survive until he was adopted by the Joestars. His father, in one of those moments he was sober, said she escaped with him from home out of love, which DIO found laughable.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Her blue eyes signify her innocence and compassionate nature.
• May–December Romance: Given Dario's age and her youthful appearance compared to him, this looks very much to be the case.
• Morality Pet: She was Dio's, and when she died, he turned extremely vindictive.
• No Name Given: Her real name is never spoken of.
• Plot-Triggering Death: Her demise is the reason Dio turned into such a vicious monster, wanting to exact revenge on his father for working her to death.
• Small Role, Big Impact:
  • Her kindness affected Dio enough that losing her triggered his Start of Darkness. If she was still alive, Dio wouldn't have become the vainglorious bastard we all know and dread/enjoy.
  • According to Over Heaven, DIO's desire for Heaven comes from his mother, as she was constantly telling him "that honorable and good people" go to Heaven. Likewise, the secret words were possibly inspired by a lullaby she sang to Dio as a child.
• Tragic Stillbirth: DIO muses he may have lost a sibling due to Dario's constant abuse on his wife in Over Heaven.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: The only person among the Brandos who was genuinely kind, and look what it got her — a lifetime of scraping to the bone until it finally killed her.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Unlike Dario, she was very fair and very beautiful, and such a pretty-faced lady that it caught the latter's eye. Presumably she's where Dio got his good looks from, considering his father was a borderline Gonk.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She was a kind, virtuous woman who did everything she could to make her family happy, especially her son, Dio. Unfortunately, her inability to stand up for herself and her death by overwork eventually led to Dio's conclusion that Virtue Is Weakness, making her one of the reasons why Dio became such a vile creature later in life. While Dio loved his mother, he hated the virtue she symbolized.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: She's only seen at the very beginning of the story, at the scene of the Joestars' wrecked horse carriage. By the time the story picks up with her son, Dario has worked her to an early grave.

Mary Joestar

Mary Joestar

Dario: I hate to say it, but your wife, [...], has gone on to her heavenly rest!

"Dario! The lady's dead, but the baby with her, it's alive! I can hear it! She must have protected it with her body!"

— Dio's Mother

The late wife of George Joestar, who her son Jonathan never knew growing up. When she accompanied her husband on a trip to London with her baby boy on a rainy night, their horses and their carriage slid off the beaten path and tumbled down a ravine, where the jagged rocks below showed no mercy. She gave her life protecting her son, and was the first Joestar to die in the story.

---

• Deceased Parents Are the Best: We never saw her for who she was, only what she did in her last moments — save her son's life at the cost of her own.
• Gory Discretion Shot: All we see of Mary are her legs and dress hanging out of the overturned carriage. Whatever horrid death-dealing injury she suffered was kept undisclosed because introducing a main character's mother all mutilated and letting that be how the audiences remembered her would not be tasteful, while the carriage driver and the horses were shown gruesomely maimed, whose were less consequential deaths used for shock value in the opening moments of the series.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Shielded her infant son Jonathan with her body rather than trying to save herself.
• Plot-Triggering Death: Had she survived the wreck, Dario would never have been able to lie to George's face so flawlessly, nor wanted to steal her ring. Even if Dio still ended up being their adopted son, her survival would have definitely stood in the way of his plans to destroy the Joestars and also prevented George from being blindly grateful to Dario and naive to Dio's true nature because there would have been two people to work over instead of one.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Phantom Blood states she is the one that bought the Stone Mask, meaning that everything that happened in the series is due to Mary Joestar's curiosity.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: She's dead on arrival, having been flung upside-down in the carriage wreck and presumably suffered fatal head trauma. We don't even get to see her in full except in old photos.

Tattoo

Tattoo

Voiced by: Hiroaki Tajiri (Anime, Japanese), Ray Chase (Anime, English)

"Stuck, ain't ya? One quick yank of the knife and they'll be picking your fingers out of this snow for a fortnight!"

"Check out this idiot! He grabbed my blade! In all my days, I've never seen the like!"

A gangster from London and one of Speedwagon's friends from his criminal days. Named because of a distinctive facial tattoo.

---

• Back for the Finale: He and Speedwagon's other criminal associate reappear at the end of Part 1 along with Straizo, Tonpetty, Poco, and Speedwagon himself all to see Jonathan off.
• Defeat Means Friendship: It's implied he gave up his life of crime along with Speedwagon when beaten by Jonathan.
• Fiery Redhead: He has a bright red mane of hair and was a lot more erratic and crazy during his attack on Jonathan when compared to his companions.
• Meaningful Name: A giant tattoo across his eyes per his name.

Danny

Danny

Jonathan: Oh, Danny. I know you'll always be my friend, no matter what Dio does.

"He's my dog, as well as my steadfast companion. Don't worry, he knows better than to nip at strangers."

— Jonathan Joestar

Jonathan's beloved Great Dane.

---

• Artistic License – Animal Care: Jonathan feeds Danny a grape. Grapes are highly toxic to dogs, even being lethal in small amounts. Then again, considering what Dio does to Danny shortly after, it wouldn't really have mattered.
• Big Friendly Dog: Being a Great Dane, he's tall, and he's definitely amiable.
• The Cameo: He has a brief appearance in the ending credits of the last episode of Stone Ocean, where Jonathan is playing with him on the hills by his mansion.
• Canine Companion: He was Jonathan's beloved pet and companion throughout his childhood years.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Locked in a box in an incinerator, with his maw wrapped in steel wire so he doesn't make any noise until the groundskeeper's lit it on fire. It's worse in the manga, where we get to see his charred yet still-alive body jump out of the incinerator.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Averted; he gleefully runs towards Dio to greet him, only to get kneed in the face.
• Heroic Dog: In the manga, he saved Jonathan from drowning when Jonathan was still a child. What makes this even more noteworthy is that Jonathan and Danny didn't get along at all prior to this incident.
• Incorrect Animal Noise: He has an unusually high-pitched sound for a Great Dane, who are known for having deep barks, being rather large dogs.
• Revenge by Proxy: Jonathan made the fatal decision of standing up to Dio Brando, and he ends up paying for it with Danny's life.
• True Companions: He and Jonathan weren't just dog and master, they were best friends. Before meeting Erina, Jonathan spent all of his time with Danny alone.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Dio heartlessly murders the poor guy in the very first episode of the series.

---