Summer Season post is nearly complete and same goes for Galaxy Angel. With all that work nearly complete, I just decided to take a small breather and just present my Top 10 Jojo characters with the release of the AllStar Battle nearing us.
I’ll say this right now, Part VI was SO WEIRD that when I think about it, I didn’t like them as much as the characters here. Sorry Part VI, it’s not you, it’s me….well actually it is somewhat you.
Spoilers Ahead, you have been warned.
10: Nijimura Keicho (Part IV)
Starting and setting up the larger arcs involving the Stand-Creating Arrow in Part IV, Nijimura Keicho is responsible for the increase in the number of Stand Users in Morioh. While being portrayed as a villain, his true purpose is to end the sufferings of his father, who was a henchman of Dio in previous years but has now been deformed and is unable to be effectively killed (put of out his misery). Keicho’s only wish is for him to find a Stand User who can kill his father so he may live his own life. Josuke and Koichi are able to calm him down and while peace may seem to have been achieved, another Stand User takes the Arrow from Keicho and also targets Keicho’s little brother, Okuyasu. Keicho after berating his idiotic brother one last time, throws himself in front of him and dies in his place. If someone like Okuyasu was able to become such a likable character as Part IV went on, I would have loved to see how Keicho would become more involved. However, since Okuyasu would little to no drive if he hadn’t died, Keicho’s death was probably necessary. I still would have loved to see him be involved in an average day though, he would probably drop out of school and take care of the house if anything. His Stand, Bad Company, is also pretty cool and I could only imagine what kind of fights he would have if he was kept alive. I really love how he shows up at the end too.
9: Robert Edward O. Speedwagon (Part I-III)
Sharing 9th place is Speedwagon and Stroheim. Speedwagon is a character you either despise or absolutely love, and because he’s on this list, he’s obviously someone I just love seeing. After an attempted mugging on Jonathan on the fateful day in London, Speedwagon was so enamored by Jonathan’s gentlemanly conviction and decided to quit his life of a thug and decided to be a gentleman. His information around the city helped Zeppeli and Jonathan track down Dio to Windknight’s Lot and also support them in their fight against zombies. The anime didn’t show this but Speedwagon was able to smash a few zombies with the large hammer he found. His need to explain everything that just happened liked a hyped up narrator only enhanced his charm. Whether or not you think he’s a loser for not getting involved with Erina , I like to think it as a sign of true loyalty and friendship to honor his best friend Jonathan. His legacy would continue through more adventures as the Speedwagon Foundation would be the helping body of dealing with Stand Users. Stroheim doesn’t really need too much explanation. If you could stand Speedwagon’s narration, then you’ll just love Stroheim’s high pitched yelling (give the VA’s an award dammit) He’s a patriotic soldier to his country and one of the only lovable Nazi’s in fictional history. It’s utter bullcrap that he died in Stalingrad.
8: Daniel J D’Arby
Part III introduced a lot of new things. As the Stands were being introduced, the characters of Part III went on a “Around the World in Eighty Days” adventure to destroy Dio once and for all. Fighting through many Stand Users (first named after the Major Arcana of the Tarot and then the Egyptian Pantheon), we come across Daniel J D’Arby. We saw a lot of combat Stands but D’Arby has his strategy of fighting through gambling. Without even needing to throw a punch or get aggressive, he is able to cripple the Part III crew. It only takes Jotaro’s steel willpower and bullshitting skills to unnerve D’Arby and lose the game. It’s scary to see how he can do so much damage without actively fighting.
7: Wham (Part II)
Out of all the Pillar Men, Wham is probably everyone’s favorite and rightfully so. Wham’s sense of pride and honorable battle lead to an epic battle with Caesar and then later with Joseph. He is extremely different from his masters Cars and ACDC who never seem to have any “honor” at all. You have to wonder where Wham picked up his trait while being mentored by these two (awesome) jackasses. I was suprised Wham was the 2nd Pillar Man to be challenged because the hierarchy goes Wham < ACDC < Cars, but as things turned out, I enjoyed it. If ACDC were to have killed Caesar, then I would have expected a crazy but less emotional match. Wham’s end was probably one of the better deaths of a villain.
6: Nijimura Okuyasu (Part IV)
Okuyasu was introduced as a villain early in Part IV next to his brother Keicho. After the incident, he kicked off Koichi and filled in the role of Josuke’s best friend. Okuyasu was the over-emotional, dumbass joke character that somewhat served as foil to Josuke’s straightman whenever the duo got in their antics. Okuyasu tends to cry a lot, usually when seeing Koichi recieve affection from Yukako and he’s stupiditity is played off for a lot of the jokes in Part IV. As stupid as he is though, his loyalty and brotherhood to others make him quite the lovable character. The Hand is also one of my favorite Stands but Okuyasu’s limited intelligence has only so many options to abuse the ability of ERASING SPACE. Tonio’s Chapter with Okuyasu eating food while crying is a chapter I keep coming back to.
5: Gyro Zeppeli (Part VII)
Part VII started out as a different series than the original series after Part VI’s wtf-ending and introduced us to the new Joestar and Zeppeli bloodlines. The buff Jonathan and Joseph counterpart is now the paraplegic Johnny while the classy Will and Caesar Zeppeli become the badass Gyro. From initial viewing, Gyro seems to be the focus while Johnny is in the back but that changes when both get their spotlights as they travel together across America searching for the bodies of Jesus Christ to awaken their Stands (I’m serious). Gyro once again takes up the mentor and best friend seat that the Zeppeli and Joestars usually do. He embodies both Will’s teaching ways and Caesar’s bro-like attitude for Johnny. Plus he kicks so much ass and literally has a set of STEEL BALLS. But just when you think this Zeppeli would get a happy ending….
4: Bruno Buccellati (Part V)
You know, when I first heard of Buccellati’s Sticky Fingers, I really didn’t expect any amazing fights when his powers involved zippers. That was proved wrong when Buccellati’s prominence in both fights and scenes in Vento Aureo basically made him more fitting for the title of Jojo than Giorno did (It should have been called Bruno’s Bizarre Adventure). Giorno was only the healer and the final fight’s “I have an even more overpowered stand” guy so his main character status was somewhat restored. Buccellati’s past really shows how much of a family person he is and how respectful he is to others. His team of Stand Users that make up our motley crew of Part V is probably the most combat orientated team I’ve seen. I would have added Guido Mista for his fight with Ghiaccio’s White Album but Buccellati’s fight with Prosciutto’s Grateful Dead and Pesci’s Beach Boy was probably one of my favorite fights in the series. I think I just might have a thing for fights in trains though. Buccellati’s recieves one hell of a send off as he literally ascends to Heaven.
3: Dio Brando (Part I and Part III)
It’s impossible to NOT list Dio in a Jojo list. He’s the asshole who started the entire mess (technically Cars was bu hey, who came back to the series?) and decided to return at the dawn of the Stands. Dio doesn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities until Part III, where he admittely must have had a lot of time to think about how much of an asshole he was. While he isn’t as dickish in Part III as opposed to completely ruining Jonathan’s life in Part 1, he’s still an evil bastard. Dio still has some compassion though, apparently he treated hsi followers nicely, befriended a priest, and also got himself 5 sons. In retrospect here’s what Dio was responsible for.
- Ruined Jonathan’s childhood and gives the latter the drive to stop him once all the crazy shit happened
- Kills Jonathan and sinks to the sea
- Speedwagon’s trip the states after hearing the news ends up with making bank with oil and then discovering Pillar Men
- After 100 years, Dio comes back with a Stand and starts Part III and gets a bunch of people killed
- Enya and Dio apparently gave an arrow to Yoshihiro Kira and the infected Nijimura leads to his son Keicho shooting people with arrow starting Part IV
- Dio’s son Giorno starts Part V. EDIT: I realized that it was actually Diavolo who was the one who “started” it all. So the point of blame points to Cars and then Diavolo before it gets to Dio.
- Enrico fucks everything up in Part VI
Of course, they give him what seems to be the most OP stand at the time, The World. It’s already a meme, and I have little things to say how awesome.
2: Higashikata Josuke (Part IV)
I decided that I didn’t want to have too many Jojo’s featured on this list, mostly because they end up as the lovable character of their respective arc. Josuke’s Stand offers a lot of utility when compared to Jotaro’s Stand that can only punch the hell out of things. While future protagonists have more utility, Josuke was the first. The aspect of the daily-life style of Part IV gave Josuke and his crew of friends more development than previous characters. Their Stands were also more diverse and interesting when compared to the nearly all combat oriented Stands in Part III. The development alone puts him in a prime spot for character relationships and even further developing the interesting cast in Part IV. Josuke’s fights involved much more than punching everything in sight as his restoration abilities put a lot more depth and thought into regular fights. His fight with Highway Star is one of favorite fights in the series. I think everyone got the hint of insulting his hair meant death as that part is rarely remarked in the later volumes. Some people were irked about how Joseph’s “good character” was wasted to make Josuke’s character, but I think it was a nice (but awkward at first) relationship.
1: Kira Yoshikage (Part IV)
Many accuse Part IV because of its late introduction to the “main” plot of the series. Granted, with Keicho and Akira’s handlings with the arrow, Josuke and co. had a lot to clean up before they moved on to the bigger stuff. The main plot begins when Rohan and Koichi meet the ghost of Sugimoto Reimi, who had been killed 15 years earlier. She reveals that her killer is still in town, and has continued his murdering spree for those 15 years. Kira Yoshikage is first introduced as a creepy businessman who has an unhealthy obbession with the female hand. His only wish in his life is to live a life that is quiet and unnoticable. He is responsible for murdering one of Josuke’s friends and thus begins the hunt for the killer. Later chapters show that he instinctively kills woman and leaves their hands when his fingernails start to quickly grow. Kira’s fight with Koichi and Jotaro show how powerful he is but he also gets cornered when Josuke and Okuyasu arrive on the scene and he’s forced to flee. At this point, I never really though much of Kira, I really thought that he was somewhat boring compared to Dio. My opinion soon began to change as he was forced to take the identity of Kosaku Kawajiri, a man that resembled his body size and took him to a salon where another Stand User was able to swap their faces and fingerprints. Kira Yoshikage, now the patriarch of the Kawajiri household returns to his home with both an estranged wife Shinobu and son Hayato waiting for him.
The development of Kira as he slowly changes his daily habits to Kosaku’s lifestyle really reveals a lot of depth that some Jojo villains do not have. Dio himself is just a completel dickwaffle, Cars isn’t as honorable as Wham or as funny as ACDC, Diavolo is just mental (and ovepowered), and Pucci is very influenced by Dio himself. We have extended scenes of Kira trying to resist his urge to murder women and try to protect his family because any deaths or injuries might cause attention. The change in personalities of Kosaku to Kira however ignites Shinbou’s passion and she sees her husband in a more romantic light as Kira tries to adapt and subsequently take Kosaku’s place in every meticulous details that include practicing his handwriting and slowly switching out shoes. Part 4 is the part of Jojo I like to call the “development saga”. Since it features characters in everyday situations added with Stands, we get to see more development between the characters, not even the villain escapes the rule. In the final battle’s prelude, Kira is forced to kill Kosaku’s son Hayato when the latter sees him kill 2 people. Kira’s father Yoshihiro whose Stand allows him to continue living (inside a photo) accidentally pierces his son with the arrow again, and awakens Kira’s Killer Queen’s final ability. Kira is then completely calm and almost seems delighted with his life now. He acts nicely to Hayato and Shinobu and acts like what a father/husband should. Whether or not this newfound love for family is somewhat genuine or because of his Stand’s power making him “invincible” ultimately factors into how much a developed character Kira Yoshikage is. It also helps that he technically only has 1-2 allies while every other villain has Stand Users with them to stop the main crew. He goes through 3 appearance changes as the story goes. There’s his regular look with blonde hair and suit, then once he kills Kosaku his hair now stands up, and once he gets his final ability, he looks like a Dragonball character. I personally like Kosaku’s face on him but that doesn’t mean I hate his other forms. Killer Queen is one hell of Stand but I think I talked about this character too much.
Lair of the Idle 