"If time has looped four times, it means at least four of my enemies are destined to die at the hands of my Bites the Dust!...Who did you off for me? Was Koichi one of them?...What about Kujo Jotaro? I'd be quite pleased to hear of his demise. I guess I'll find out in a few minutes, won't I?...Once I've confirmed their deaths, I'll cancel Bites the Dust! Bites the Dust is unbeatable! Fate has sided with Yoshikage Kira!"
The Joestar lineage has crossed paths with villains ranging from honorable warriors to the lowest scum of the Earth, but these charismatic standouts are defined by their impressive abilities and dastardly charms.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
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Original continuity
- Battle Tendency:
- Kars is the leader of the Pillar Men, a group that seeks the Red Stone of Aja so as to become immune to the sunlight that harms them and reign as the "ultimate lifeforms." Awakening in the present day after centuries of slumber, Kars dispatches his loyal friends Wammuu and Esidisi to search for the Red Stone, and showcases his love for nature and its creatures when he murders a group of men who tried to kill a dog. Manipulating Joseph into assisting him in his quest for the stone by threatening the life of Lisa Lisa, promising to play fair only to use pragmatic tricks to win the day, Kars obtains the Red Stone of Aja, using it to become a god. Kars gives Joseph the fight of his life, as he constantly adapts to each and every thing the Hamon user throws at him, until he is finally outwitted and blasted into space only by sheer luck on Joseph's part.
- The affable Esidisi is Kars' best friend and the second-in-command of the Pillar Men. Upon confronting Joseph when looking for the Red Stone of Aja, Esidisi quickly proves to be an expert in messing with his opponent, temporarily leaving Joseph unable to get a read on him, and leading to Esidisi nearly killing Joseph with his tactics while praising him for being a Worthy Opponent. Even when Joseph destroys Esidisi’s body, Esidisi reveals his plans went deeper after all, using his surviving brain to possess Suzi Q and mail the gemstone for Kars to pick up. He then shows his conviction to the Pillar Men’s cause by being willing to sacrifice his own life in an attempt to take out the heroes by using the possessed Suzi Q as a boiling blood bomb, earning Joseph’s respect for Esidisi’s devotion to his allies.
- Wamuu is the strongest of the Pillar Men and a dangerous combatant. During his initial fight with Joseph Joestar, he completely overpowers him and sees through every trick his opponent came up with, only sparing him because of his potential. Said potential causes Wamuu to poison Jojo, forcing him to train for a month to defeat him for the cure. After a month of training, Caesar Zeppeli impresses Wamuu enough for him to honor his final moments, even if it would give Jojo an advantage. His final battle has him use every technique to fight Jojo, seeing him and Caesar as Worthy Opponents. Wamuu dies without any regrets, believing his last fight to be the reason why he was born.
- Straizo was once a noble practitioner of Hamon and ally to the Joestar clan, but is corrupted by a desire for the power that Dio Brando possessed. Teaming with the Speedwagon Foundation on an expedition to find a stone mask, Straizo tricks information on Joseph out of Speedwagon until the mask is found. Straizo then easily wipes out the research team, transforms himself into a vampire with the mask, and disposes of his victims' bodies so that the Pillar Men cannot be resurrected through their blood. Tracking down Joseph to eliminate him as a threat, Straizo engages in a lengthy battle with the young fighter, in which Straizo displays a variety of cunning and Crazy-Prepared tactics. Straizo faces his eventual defeat at Joseph's hands with grace, offering words of advice to Joseph before honorably ending his own life with a proclamation that he regrets nothing, not even his own death.
- Santana is the first Pillar Man fought by Joseph Joestar, and just as cunning as his brethren. Pretending to be stupid and feeding off a vampire to regain his powers, Santana quickly adapts to bring down the Nazis that awakened him; cleverly using his own powers to contort and reshape his body to sneak around the base and methodically dispatch the Nazis with brilliant tactics like using their own firearms against them, Santana then attacks Joseph Joestar and Rudol von Stroheim. Even after Joseph explodes him from within, Santana manages to insert himself into Stroheim's body to continue the fight, showing terrifying persistence as he continues to evade the sunlight through determination and quick thinking, until Joseph finally manages to use the sun's reflection to turn the relentless Pillar Man to stone.
- Stardust Crusaders: N'Doul is a loyal servant of DIO, carrying out assassinations for the vampire due to a respect for and fear of him. Tracking the Stardust Crusaders as they land in Egypt, the blind N'Doul follows them through the mere vibrations of their footsteps in the sand. N'Doul uses his Stand Geb to kill two Speedwagon pilots and lure the Crusaders into a trap, nearly killing them all several times over. Even when the Crusaders think up clever schemes to outsmart their foe, N'Doul stays one step ahead, blinding Kakyoin and severely wounding Avdol in the process. Upon being beaten by Jotaro by a mere split second, N'Doul kills himself rather than face capture and interrogation, complimenting Jotaro's skills to his last breath.
- Diamond Is Unbreakable: Yoshikage Kira is a suave, handsome Serial Killer who wants nothing more than to have an "average" existence and live without any distress or worry in his life. Having spent his life specifically seeking third place in any competition or test he took, even planting himself in inconspicuous positions in group photos, just to remain under the radar as neither particularly gifted or flawed, Kira then used his appearance as a normal person to mask his serial killings, murdering women to then take their hands and treat them as "dates" so as to satisfy his hand fetish. Using his Stand, Killer Queen, Kira easily eliminates all evidence of his victims, murders all those who could even possibly stand in his way, and sets numerous traps for Josuke and his friends as they close in on the killer. When seemingly beaten, Kira escapes, kills a man and steals his identity, and gains Bites the Dust, a time-rewinding ability that he uses to murder everyone who could possibly stop him. Even when killed and sent to the afterlife, Kira happily accepts his new "peaceful" existence, only truly losing when the souls of his victims lash out at him and curse him to an eternity of suffering. Though spending much of his time on the run from Josuke, Kira stays one step ahead the whole time, and has such sheer willpower to survive that he unlocks entirely new Stand abilities, a feat nearly unheard of throughout the world.
- Golden Wind:
- Giorno Giovanna, the main protagonist, is DIO Brando and Jonathan Joestar's son. Born Haruno Shiobana and growing up in an abusive background, Giorno, inspired by a gangster who saved him from the abuse out of gratitude for saving his life, developed the ambition to reform the mafia and free it from drug dealing and oppressive operatives. Attracting the attention of Bruno Bucciarati after the death of Leaky-Eye Luca, Giorno strikes an alliance with him and joins his team. Giorno then proves to be an invaluable asset, either outwitting his enemies when he's in the frontlines, providing support or figuring out the enemy's abilities, providing vital information to the team even if he's beaten himself. Following Bucciarati when he and most of his team betray Passione's Boss Diavolo, Giorno later outsmarts Diavolo himself, figuring out the latter's plan to reach the Stand Arrow before Team Bucciarati does. Upon getting the Arrow first thanks to a team effort, Giorno defeats Diavolo with its power and becomes the Boss of Passione. Inheriting Jonathan's heart of gold and DIO's ruthlessness and charisma, Giorno earned both ally and enemy's respect and fear through his many brilliant feats.
- Bruno Bucciarati is a charismatic gangster working for the Italian mafia, with hopes to upend the current vile system and replace it with his own organization, free of addictive drugs and monstrous operatives. Rising to the rank of Capo through his own tenacity and cleverness, Bucciarati uses his insanely loyal gang and allies with Giorno Giovanna to combat La Squadra Esecuzioni, outwitting all the enemies they face. Betraying "the Boss" Diavolo himself when the man tries to kill his daughter Trish, Bucciarati keeps a step ahead of powerful Diavolo in protecting Trish, survives a lethal blow for days through a combo of his own will and Giorno's power, and personally screws over Diavolo in the gang's climactic battle with him, Bucciarati using his last moments of life to secure Giorno's victory and urge him on in creating a new crime syndicate. One of the greatest partners a "JoJo" ever had, who inspired a familial care in his entire gang through his compassion and levelheadedness, Bucciarati played the largest role possible in helping Giorno secure his dream to be a "gang-star."
- Risotto Nero is the leader of La Squadra Esecuzioni, Passione's rogue assassination team. After his team was sent the mutilated corpses of two of their members as a warning, Risotto and his team decide to betray Passione. Finding out about Trish, the Boss' daughter, Risotto comes up with a plan to kidnap her to find out about the Boss' identity. Risotto tracks down the heroes at every turn, torturing a Passione member to reconstruct a photo of their next location when he temporarily loses track of them. Later when all of his men are killed, Risotto hides out at Sardinia, correctly deducing that Trish will be returning there. Upon confronting Doppio, Risotto brings him to near death with a variety of tactics before the Boss tricks Narancia into shooting the unexpected Risotto. However, even upon death's door, Risotto takes control of Aerosmith attempting to have it shoot both him and the Boss to death, a move that even the Boss praises him for.
- Prosciutto is a member of La Squadra Esecuzioni, and the mentor of the timid Pesci. Tasked with kidnapping Trish, Prosciutto tracks Bucciarati's team to a train and uses his Stand to rapidly age everyone on the train to draw out the heroes, knowing that Trish will be spared due to her lower body temperature slowing down the aging. Aging himself up to disguise himself as a helpless victim of the stand, Proscuiutto ambushes Mista right when he's about to kill Pesci and rapidly ages and incapacitates him, shooting him in the head to ensure Mista's death. Even when on the brink of death after his fight with Bucciarati, Prosciutto uses the last minutes of his life to hang on to the bottom of the train and continue using his Stand, entrusting Pesci to finish the job. Cunning and inspiring, Prosciutto's belief in Pesci leads him to gain confidence in himself, resulting in Pesci nearly killing all of the heroes.
- Tiziano is a member of Passione's elite subdivision. Tasked alongside Squalo to kill Bucciarati's group, Tiziano attaches his stand, Talking Head, to Narancia's tongue, controlling his speech to mislead the heroes. Using this in conjunction with Squalo's Stand, Clash, Tiziano incapacitates Giorno, ensuring that he can't heal the others, before leading all of them into an explosive trap. When Narancia finally discovers their location, Tiziano sacrifices himself to protect Squalo while simultaneously providing liquid for Squalo's Stand. Calculative to the end, Tiziano proved to be one of Passione's most dangerous members.
- Stone Ocean: Enrico Pucci is a charming priest who was plunged into despair after racists murdered his sister due to his own mistakes. The extremely unfortunate set of circumstances that brought about her demise drove Pucci to hate the idea of an unforeseen future and "fate." Coming to idolize DIO, Pucci collects the man's thoughts and plans for a new way of life called "Heaven," and, after handily pulling the strings of everyone in Green Dolphin Street Prison—taking time to try to genuinely help the prisoners there even as they attempt to rob him blind—Pucci uses his upgraded Stand "Made in Heaven" to begin his final plan. Aiming to force every human being to live out their whole lives, and see the entirety of the universe's lifespan, then relive their lives knowing their and everyone else's fates, Pucci intends to enable them to never be surprised or broken by life's events, knowing beforehand all that will happen. Pucci is easily the most well-intentioned and genuinely caring Big Bad in the franchise, wanting to simply end the pain that comes with not knowing one's fate, and even while dying a torturous death tries to ensure his "Heaven" will carry on, even at the cost of his own life.
Rebooted continuity
- Steel Ball Run:
- Diego "Dio" Brando, while ruthless, is completely devoid of his original counterpart's viler qualities. A genius jockey who swore revenge on society for his mother's death, Diego entered the Steel Ball Run, analyzing the competition's horses and adapting to their condition. After stealing a Holy Corpse Part and Dr. Ferdinand's Stand Scary Monsters, Diego got involved in the search for the Holy Corpse Parts, working for himself, then for Funny Valentine and finally with the heroes, switching sides as it suited his interests. Whether good, evil or neutral, Diego proved to be as good with Scary Monsters as he was with horses, using it offensively, as support — in tandem with Sandman's Stand – or even for infiltration purposes. Ultimately teaming up with Johnny Joestar, Wekapipo and later on Hot Pants against Valentine, Diego, despite Valentine's efforts to lure and outsmart him, saw through the latter's strategies, adapting to them and figuring out Valentine's Stand ability, later on doing his best with Hot Pants to prevent Valentine from using it, nearly killing him and only losing due to bad luck.
- The ever-calm, infinitely polite Ringo Roadagain discovered his Stand Mandom after killing a burglar that had slaughtered his family. With this action Ringo came to the realization that fighting and near-death experiences harden one's willpower and make them a "true man," and made it his life's goal to both spread this message, and strengthen himself. Sent by President Funny Valentine to track down parts of the Holy Corpse, Ringo lays a trap for any racers of the Steel Ball Run who venture too close to his shack, trapping them in an infinite time loop until they fight him. In one of these fights, Ringo gives his opponent pointers on how to better combat him, only for his opponent to ignore them and get easily taken down by Ringo, who nonetheless thanks his fallen foe for a good fight. Upon confronting Gyro Zeppeli, Hot Pants and Johnny Joester, Ringo duels the trio, outsmarting Hot Pants's attempted sneak attack before capturing Johnny, offering Gyro a chance to walk away unharmed. When Gyro refuses, Ringo gives Gyro one of the hardest fights of his life, culminating in Ringo forcing Gyro to kill him, proclaiming that Gyro has now gained willpower he will need for his coming fights and welcoming him to "the true man's world."
- Blackmore is a loyal adherent to President Funny Valentine, gifted with the powerful Stand "Catch the Rainbow." Having a natural talent for deduction and hyper attention to his surroundings, Blackmore easily deduces Lucy Steel's subterfuge against Valentine through things as simple as water droplets, and tracks her down after effortlessly murdering Mountain Tim. Though his temporarily distraction by the Holy Corpse's power enables Lucy to fatally wound him, Blackmore uses his Stand to seal up his wounds and keep him alive long enough to pursue Lucy and nearly murder her, Gyro and Johnny all at once. Accepting of his inevitable death, Blackmore dedicates his last moments to retrieving the Corpse for Valentine, his determination matched only by his creative usage of his powers in combat.
- Jojolion: Kaato Higashikata is the matriarch of the current genration of the Higashikata Family, and a vital part of developing the ambitious Jobin Higashikata. Having covered up and later taking the fall for Jobin's Accidental Murder of his own bully when he was a kid, she teached him into taking priority of his family over everything, which would lead him up into being involved with the Locacaca conspiracy to cure the family's curse, which involved the eldest son always being killed by a mysterious illness. Having served her time in jail, she makes it clear that she plans to take her reward for sacrificing so much for her family, often giving Jobin guidance with his plans. In the final battle, after her son Jobin was killed, she steps up into the fight between Tooru and the heroes by calmly bypassing the immaculately powerful "Wonder of U", holds him down, and uses the new version of the Locacaca to bypass the family's curse unto Tooru, killing him once and for all. Although she ends up killed by Tooru's power, she acknowledges it, and ends up being succesful on carrying out her son's mission.
Side-Stories & Other Works
Examples
- Dead Man's Questions: Yoshikage Kira, now a ghost, becomes an amoral hitman with no memory of his life beyond his name and a willingness to kill whoever he is told to by his employer. Kira first manages to deceive a woman harboring his first target, a child murderer, into letting him into her apartment, as he Must Be Invited to enter a home. Upon being attacked by the woman's dog and driven out, Kira instead waits outside the target's window for hours, interprets his gloating taunts as an invitation, and kills him before escaping seamlessly. Betrayed by his employer and ambushed by monsters called Ghost Cleansers on another mission, Kira severs his own arm to survive, and using his ingenuity puts up a fight and escapes, nonchalantly leaving the scene and turning his eye to killing his employer for her betrayal, proving his creativity and ruthlessness even without his Stand and memories.
- GioGio's Bizarre Adventure 2: Golden Heart, Golden Ring, by Miya Shotaro and Gichi Otsuka:
- Pannacotta Fugo, after leaving Team Bucciarati when the latter betrayed the Boss of Passione, is tasked by the latter to prove his loyalty to Passione by killing his former teammates. Working alongside Sogliola Lopez, Fugo is tasked by the latter with stalking Coniglio "Coni", a Stand User, and regularly unleash Purple Haze around her while making sure to kill a maximum of bystanders; as expected, and thanks to Figo encouraging her, Coni would use her Stand The Cure to absorb the bystanders' suffering to cure them from Purple Haze's virus. Fugo repeats these manipulations several times, up until The Cure goes insane from all the suffering it absorbed and would unleash Purple Haze's suffering all over Venezia, killing untold amounts of people. However, Fugo does that while aware that his former Team Bucciarati comrade Giorno previously vaccinated himself against Purple Haze's virus, not having given that information to Lopez. This results in Lopez's death against Team Bucciarati, and Fugo gets away with his deeds, having proven his loyalty to Passione without harming his former teammates.
- Rigatoni is a retired Passione hitman who earned a reputation as a "Stand killer", killing several Stand Users, including some Passione members in cases of power struggles. Asking for a partner to make up for his Stand Public Image Limited's fatal weaknesses, Rigatoni teamed up with Guido Mista, having him deal with targets that happened to be non-Stand Users. Terminating his partnership with Mista after the latter failed to assassinate their latest target, Rigatoni retired and enjoyed a peaceful life. Brought out of retirement by Sogliola Lopez to assassinate Team Bucciarati, Rigatoni deliberately posted himself at the top of the bell tower of St. Mark's Basilica to attack them while leaving them little chance to strike back due to being too far from him. Defeating Narancia Ghirga and Leone Abbacchio as well as seeing through Mista's first tactics as a result of his tactic, Rigatoni is only defeated after Giorno and Mista double-teamed him. Affable to his targets and complimenting Mista's growth, Rigatoni accepts his demise with utter grace.
- Purple Haze Feedback: Giorno Giovanna, a.k.a. Giogio, is every bit as ruthless, kind-hearted and brilliant as he was in Golden Wind. Taking over Passione by claiming he's been its unknown Boss all along and significantly improving Passione's power under his leadership, Giogio struck an alliance with Jotaro Kujo and the Speedwagon Foundation and decides to destroy a Stone Mask for them as a sign of good will. Planning to kill 3 birds with one stone, Giogio sends Fugo, Sheila E. and Cannolo Murolo to wipe out Passione's former narcotics team officially to redeem themselves, while in truth Giogio had chosen them to help Fugo deal with his own cynism, have the reckless Sheila develop a more careful nature and sending Murolo to destroy the Stone Mask as well. Giogio and Passione assist them from afar during their mission, organizing a national strike in the ports around the straits of Messina and giving them a yacht with a security system so that they could investigate the ports and reach Sicily safely. After the mission's success, Giogio earns Fugo's loyalty by promising to help him deal with his grief.
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven: In an alternate reality, Enrico Pucci assisted in the empowerment of DIO to help him achieve "Heaven", and together they rewrote reality to one where DIO reigned supreme. Upon discovering other dimensions, Pucci leads the charge in staging various invasions and mind controlling schemes against Joestar family allies, truthfully just baiting them all into a confrontation with DIO. Pucci deduces Valentine's status as a traitor and helps DIO get rid of him, and Pucci then personally duels the Joestars to test their abilities before sacrificing his own life to ensure they can't read his mind and discover the fact that he has lead them into a final trap set by DIO.
