70 Fun Facts About JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

Who writes and illustrates JoJo's Bizarre Adventure?

Hirohiko Araki, born in Sendai in 1960, has written and drawn every part of JoJo since the series began in January 1987.

In which magazine was JoJo's Bizarre Adventure originally serialized from 1987 to 2004?

JoJo ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1987 to 2004, then moved in 2005 to the monthly seinen magazine Ultra Jump, home of Steel Ball Run and its successors.

What are Stands, the powers at the centre of JoJo battles from Part 3 onward?

Stands are psycho-spiritual manifestations of a person's fighting spirit, introduced in Stardust Crusaders; Araki said he wanted to draw the invisible heart and soul, making fights mental rather than physical.

In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, what is the sunlight-based breathing martial art used by Jonathan and Joseph Joestar called?

Hamon, also translated as the Ripple, focuses bodily energy into sunlight through controlled breathing, which is why it works so well on vampires.

Mainline members of JoJo's Joestar family share a star-shaped birthmark where on their bodies?

Above the left shoulder blade; each part's hero also has a name that can be shortened to 'JoJo', from Jonathan Joestar to Jodio Joestar.

What is the title of Part 1 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure?

Phantom Blood, set in 1880s England, introduces Jonathan Joestar and his adopted brother Dio Brando and runs just five volumes.

Dio Brando becomes a vampire in Part 1 by using what ancient artefact?

Dio dons the Stone Mask, an Aztec artefact that turns its wearer into a vampire; Battle Tendency reveals the mask was made by the Pillar Men.

In Battle Tendency, Joseph Joestar fights the Pillar Men. Who is their leader?

He is finally blasted into space by a volcanic eruption, where his immortal body freezes solid, unable to die.

The Pillar Men are seeking which object, which will turn them into invincible superbeings?

The Red Stone of Aja, focused through the Stone Mask, would make the Pillar Men immune to sunlight; Lisa Lisa guards the flawless Super Aja in Venice.

In Stardust Crusaders, the heroes must travel from Japan to which country to defeat DIO?

The Crusaders travel from Japan to Egypt, where DIO waits in Cairo, racing a 50-day limit before Holy Kujo's Stand kills her.

What is the name of Jotaro's Stand?

Jotaro's Star Platinum has incredible strength, speed and precision, and in the fight with DIO it learns to stop time for a few seconds.

Araki modelled Jotaro, including his poses and catchphrases, on which American actor?

Araki based Jotaro on Clint Eastwood, borrowing the actor's laconic manner and gunslinger poses; Jotaro's 'yare yare daze' grumble carries the same Eastwood cool.

Which Stand does DIO wield in Stardust Crusaders?

DIO's Stand The World stops time, at first for a few seconds and later for up to nine; Jotaro's Star Platinum develops the same power.

Joseph Joestar's Stand Hermit Purple, like most Stands in Part 3, is named after what?

Hermit Purple takes its name from The Hermit tarot card, like the other Crusaders' Stands; Joseph uses its vines for spirit photography through cameras and TV sets.

Iggy, the Stand-using member of the Stardust Crusaders, is what kind of animal?

Iggy is a Boston Terrier, a New York stray who dodged animal control for years; the group keeps him calm with coffee-flavoured chewing gum.

Hol Horse's Stand, Emperor, takes the form of what object?

Emperor manifests as a revolver in Hol Horse's hand; the bullets it fires are part of the Stand, so Hol Horse can steer them in mid-air.

Muhammad Avdol's Stand Magician's Red manipulates fire, usually shaped like which symbol?

Its signature attack, Crossfire Hurricane, hurls several flaming ankhs at once.

Noriaki Kakyoin's long-range Stand attack, a blast of green energy, is called what?

Emerald Splash fires a spray of green energy shards from Hierophant Green, Kakyoin's Stand, which can also shrink and control people from inside their bodies.

Jean Pierre Polnareff's Stand Silver Chariot is an armoured knight wielding what weapon?

Silver Chariot fences with a rapier at blinding speed; shedding its armour makes it faster yet at the cost of defence, and Polnareff's look inspired Street Fighter's Guile.

Which vampire, DIO's last creation, kills both Avdol and Iggy in DIO's mansion?

Vanilla Ice, whose Stand Cream devours anything in its path, kills Avdol and Iggy; Polnareff then forces him into sunlight, where the vampire crumbles.

Diamond Is Unbreakable is set in 1999 in which fictional Japanese town?

Morioh, a fictional town in S City, M Prefecture, is Josuke Higashikata's home; it returns in JoJolion, damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, in a second continuity.

Crazy Diamond can restore objects and mend injuries, but which of these is beyond it?

It can turn lemonade back into water, sugar and lemons, but it can neither revive the dead nor mend its own user.

What is the power of Yoshikage Kira's Stand, Killer Queen?

Turning any object into a bomb leaves no trace, which is how the mild-mannered office worker has hidden his murders for years.

Rohan Kishibe's Stand, Heaven's Door, does what to a person?

The prickly mangaka draws the series Pink Dark Boy and stars in his own spin-off, Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe.

Koichi Hirose's Stand Echoes has how many distinct forms, or Acts?

Echoes has three Acts; Koichi can summon only one at a time, and Act 3, which talks and crushes targets with 'Freeze', has a personality of its own.

Okuyasu Nijimura's Stand The Hand does what to whatever it swipes?

It is a devastating power that Okuyasu, not the sharpest member of the cast, rarely uses to its full potential.

Golden Wind is set in 2001 in which Italian city?

Naples is where Giorno, conceived while DIO was using Jonathan's body, aims to become a mafia boss and stop drugs being sold to children.

What is the name of Giorno Giovanna's Stand, which gives life to non-living things?

Gold Experience can turn a briefcase into frogs or a tree; pierced by the Arrow it becomes Gold Experience Requiem, which resets any action to zero and traps Diavolo in endless deaths.

In JoJo's Golden Wind, Bruno Bucciarati's Stand Sticky Fingers can put what on any object it touches?

A zipper: he can unzip a wall and walk straight through the opening, or take himself apart to dodge attacks.

Guido Mista's Stand Sex Pistols consists of six numbered bullet-shaped beings. Which number is missing?

Despite being Italian, Mista is tetraphobic and treats the number the way many East Asian cultures do, as bad luck.

Narancia Ghirga's Stand Aerosmith takes the form of what?

Aerosmith is a tiny toy aeroplane armed with machine guns and bombs; its radar tracks targets by the carbon dioxide they breathe, so it cannot tell enemies from bystanders.

Pannacotta Fugo's Stand Purple Haze is dangerous even to allies because it releases what?

Purple Haze's fist capsules release a deadly virus that eats flesh within seconds; Fugo has no immunity to it, and he later leads his own light novel, Purple Haze Feedback.

What is King Crimson's second face, which predicts ten seconds ahead, called?

Epitaph, the face on King Crimson's forehead, shows the next ten seconds, letting Diavolo see attacks coming before his main power erases up to ten seconds of time.

What is the name of the boss's timid alter ego in Golden Wind, who unknowingly shares Diavolo's body?

Vinegar Doppio is the boss's timid second personality, a separate soul sharing Diavolo's body; he acts as go-between with Passione, taking the boss's 'calls' on any object he grabs.

Stone Ocean sends Jolyne Cujoh to Green Dolphin Street Prison in which US state?

Green Dolphin Street Prison is in Florida; Stone Ocean, set in 2011-12, was Araki's first part with a female lead, and Jolyne awakens her Stand from a pendant Jotaro sent her.

Jolyne Cujoh's Stand Stone Free lets her turn her body into what?

Stone Free unravels Jolyne's body into string; the string is elastic but relatively fragile, and she can reduce her whole body to it.

Enrico Pucci's Stand Whitesnake steals a person's Stand and memories in what form?

He takes Jotaro's discs early in Stone Ocean, and Jolyne spends most of the part trying to get them back.

What was Pucci's final Stand called during serialization, before it was renamed for the collected volumes?

It ran as Stairway to Heaven in Weekly Shōnen Jump and became Made in Heaven in the collected volumes; the Stand accelerates time until the universe ends and is reborn.

Steel Ball Run is a cross-country horse race held in the United States in which year?

The Steel Ball Run starts in San Diego on 25 September 1890 and ends in New York; President Funny Valentine uses the race as cover for collecting the parts of a Saint's Corpse.

Johnny Joestar's Stand Tusk initially lets him fire what at people?

Tusk lets Johnny fire his spinning fingernails like bullets; the paraplegic ex-jockey rides Slow Dancer and learns the Spin from Gyro so he can stand again.

The Steel Ball Run racer known as Gyro has what real given names?

Gyro Zeppeli was born Julius Caesar Zeppeli, a Neapolitan executioner who rides Valkyrie and channels the Spin, based on the golden rectangle, through his Steel Balls.

Funny Valentine's Stand D4C activates when he is sandwiched by two objects. What does it let him do?

He uses it to swap his mind into another version of himself, usually to cheat death.

Diego Brando's Stand Scary Monsters lets him transform into what?

Scary Monsters turns Diego into a raptor-like dinosaur whose bite spreads the change to others; an alternate-universe Diego later wields THE WORLD, DIO's time-stopping Stand.

The Josuke of JoJolion is a fusion of his universe's Yoshikage Kira and which other young man?

Josefumi Kujo and Yoshikage Kira, buried at the Wall Eyes during the 2011 earthquake, were fused by the ground's 'equivalent exchange' into the amnesiac Josuke.

JoJolion's Josuke has the Stand Soft & Wet, which produces bubbles that do what?

Soft & Wet's bubbles steal an aspect of whatever they touch, from a person's eyesight to the friction of a floor; fused with a bomb power it later becomes Soft & Wet: Go Beyond.

Part 9, The JoJoLands, follows Jodio Joestar and his brother Dragona in which setting?

The JoJoLands is set on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, where 15-year-old Jodio Joestar, his brother Dragona and their crew start by stealing a diamond from a Japanese tourist.

Which studio produced the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure TV anime that premiered in October 2012?

David Production had made five seasons and 190 episodes by December 2022, reaching the end of Stone Ocean.

The Stone Ocean anime debuted worldwide in December 2021 on which platform before Japanese TV?

Netflix streamed Stone Ocean's first 12 episodes worldwide on 1 December 2021, a month before Japanese TV; the second batch followed in September 2022 and the finale in December 2022.

Which director made the 2017 live-action JoJo film based on Diamond Is Unbreakable?

Takashi Miike's Toho and Warner Bros. co-production starred Kento Yamazaki as Josuke.

From 1993 to 2002, a 13-episode OVA adapting Stardust Crusaders was produced by which studio?

A.P.P.P. made the 13 OVA episodes (1993-2002), which, with Capcom's 1999 fighting game and a 2005-2010 English release of Stardust Crusaders, gave the series its only Western exposure before 2012.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle was released in 2013 to mark which anniversary of the manga?

All Star Battle, released by Bandai Namco in August 2013, marked the manga's 25th anniversary; a JoJo-wrapped train ran on Tokyo's Yamanote Line for two weeks to launch it.

Which museum exhibited Hirohiko Araki in 2009, prompting a full-colour Rohan one-shot set there?

Araki drew Rohan at the Louvre, a 123-page full-colour one-shot, after the Louvre exhibited his work in 2009; it sends Rohan to Paris for a cursed painting tied to his family.

Which fashion house hosted a 2011 exhibition and one-shots starring Rohan Kishibe and Jolyne Cujoh?

Gucci marked its 90th anniversary with a 2011 Araki exhibition at its Shinjuku store; Rohan Kishibe Goes to Gucci followed, and Jolyne, Fly High with Gucci in 2013.

Roughly how many copies of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure were in circulation by August 2023?

JoJo had more than 120 million copies in circulation by August 2023, across more than 130 tankōbon volumes, placing it among the best-selling manga in history.

Araki's earlier manga about an 'ultimate being', considered JoJo's spiritual predecessor, is which title?

Baoh: The Visitor (1984-85), about a parasite that turns its host into an unstoppable 'ultimate being', fed the vampires of Part 1 and the Pillar Men of Part 2.

The Zeppeli family name is derived from which rock band?

Zeppeli is a play on Led Zeppelin; music references run through the series, from Stands like Killer Queen and Aerosmith to Sticky Fingers.

Araki's iconic 'JoJo poses' were inspired by his studies of which artist's sculptures on a trip to Italy?

Araki traced the twisting 'JoJo poses' to Michelangelo's sculptures, which he studied on a trip to Italy; for colour he has cited Paul Gauguin.

Araki took the idea of intertwined destiny and rivalry between two families from which novel?

Araki drew the intertwined fates of two families from John Steinbeck's East of Eden, and the generations-spanning structure from Alex Haley's Roots.

Robert E. O. Speedwagon makes his fortune in what industry, funding the Speedwagon Foundation?

Speedwagon, once an Ogre Street thug, strikes oil in Texas and uses the fortune to found the Speedwagon Foundation, which aids the Joestars in nearly every later part.

Lisa Lisa, the martial-arts master who trains Joseph in Battle Tendency, is secretly his what?

Lisa Lisa is Joseph's mother: born Elizabeth, she was the infant Erina saved on the night Jonathan died, and later married George Joestar II, Joseph's father.

Nazi officer Rudol von Stroheim, later a cyborg fighting the Pillar Men, is said to have died at which 1943 battle?

The Battle Tendency epilogue says Stroheim died a hero at Stalingrad in 1943; he had earlier fitted Joseph with a German-made artificial hand.

The Pillar Man Santana is discovered in 1938 inside a pyramid in which country?

Santana is found in Mexico in 1938 by the Nazis; Joseph turns him back to stone by dragging him into a well where the noon sun reaches.

Which company began licensing JoJo for North America in 2005, starting with Stardust Crusaders?

Viz Media took the North American licence in 2005; its first release, Stardust Crusaders, renamed several Stands for trademark reasons and had Araki redraw scenes of animal cruelty.

Which American cable block began airing the JoJo anime in October 2016?

Toonami on Adult Swim began airing the 2012 series on 15 October 2016; Crunchyroll had streamed the anime outside Japan since the 2014 premiere of Stardust Crusaders.

The Stand Arrow, introduced in Diamond Is Unbreakable, gives a Stand to anyone pierced by it who is what?

It was later revealed to be the source of DIO's Stand and the Joestars' Stands as well.

Trish Una, the boss's daughter in Golden Wind, awakens a Stand named Spice Girl. What does it do?

Araki decided to give her a Stand while writing, and created Carne's Stand purely for her to fight it.

Which amnesiac Stone Ocean ally becomes the key to Pucci's downfall after his Stand is turned into a disc?

Weather Report, born Domenico Pucci and the priest's twin brother, has his Stand turned into a disc; Emporio later inserts it and uses Weather Report to kill Pucci.

Araki made Stardust Crusaders a 'road movie' inspired by which Jules Verne novel?

Araki modelled Stardust Crusaders on Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, a journey from Japan to Egypt, to avoid the tournament format then popular in Shōnen Jump.

What prize does President Funny Valentine offer the winner of the Steel Ball Run race?

The Steel Ball Run's purse is $50 million, put up to lure riders from around the world; Valentine's real aim is to gather the scattered parts of a holy corpse.

In 2008 Shueisha halted JoJo shipments after complaints about a scene in which DIO reads what?

The recall also hit the English releases; the OVA was permanently discontinued.