Joseph Joestar

"OH MY GOD!"

- Joseph's catchphrase

"OH NO!"

- Joseph's second catchphrase

"Your next line is..."

- Another of Joseph's catchphrases which he uses in battle

"Apologise to Speedwagon... in hell!"

- Joseph, to Straizo

"Well, I guess now you can see the difference in our fighting experience. Once your opponent started boasting their victory, they've already lost! This is how Joseph Joestar does things! I guess I just get better with age."

- Joseph, to an enemy Stand user

Joseph Joestar (ジョセフ・ジョースター Josefu Jōsutā) is the protagonist of Part II: Battle Tendency, a core ally in Part III: Stardust Crusaders, and a supporting character in Part IV: Diamond is Unbreakable.

A survivor, Joseph meets the fantastic threats approaching him throughout his life with initiative and ingenuity. He is the most recurring JoJo in the series after his grandson, Jotaro Kujo.

In the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime, Joseph is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita in Battle Tendency, and is also voiced by the late Unshō Ishizuka in Stardust Crusaders and Diamond is Unbreakable. In the English Dub, he is voiced by Ben Diskin in Battle Tendency and Richard Epcar in Stardust Crusaders.

Part II: Battle Tendency
In Battle Tendency, Joseph is a hotheaded, impetuous, and confrontational young man. Quick to violently respond to the slightest provocation, Joseph would often get into brawls growing up; prior to events of the story, he had been imprisoned seven times and expelled once from school for fighting. Having no respect for authority save of his grandmother's, and later Lisa Lisa's, Joseph has antagonised policemen and mafiosi alike. Furthermore, Joseph is a foul-mouthed individual and regularly taunts his enemies, enjoying aggravating them. He notably taunted Kars when he launched him into space, claiming to have again planned everything from the beginning just to annoy him.

Joseph is a playful man and prefers fooling around over having any responsibility. By his own admission, his most hated sentences are "hard work" and "work hard", and still had to be pushed to train his Ripple talent in spite of facing certain death if he didn't meet and fight Wamuu again. Joseph has a fairly goofy side and spends half of his fights enjoying having outsmarted his current enemy with incredibly zany schemes, which take his opponents by surprise by how silly his plans are at first sight. A show-off, Joseph likes being the centre of attention and couldn't stand that his rival Caesar had a special technique. With his prestidigitation talent, Joseph mixed his boastful nature and his love of pranks into a dangerous tool in battle.

At the beginning of his adventure, Joseph's one redeeming trait is his devotion to his family and friends. Joseph cares deeply for his grandmother Erina Joestar, and is deeply angered when a gangster has the nerve of mentioning Speedwagon's death before her, which upset her. Joseph also cares for his "Uncle Speedwagon", who he considers like a father and Speedwagon's disappearance pushed Joseph to go look for him in Mexico. Joseph also has a knack for befriending people. Despite having been stolen his wallet, Joseph quickly befriended Smokey Brown and couldn't tolerate discrimination against him. In the same way, Joseph befriended Caesar Zeppeli and Lisa Lisa even though they had difficult starts. Joseph even came to respect the Pillar Man Wamuu, and gave him a last salute as he died.

Over the course of Part 2, although he never really lost his overall attitude, he did develop into a strong, focused hero. In accord with his dismissal of any kind of discipline, Joseph believes that anything is fair in a fight as long as one isn't needlessly cruel. This results in him being a cheat and once earned him a scolding when he tried to climb the Hell Climb Pillar using a rope instead of with the Ripple as intended. Joseph possess a peculiar sense of honour, acknowledging Esidisi's underhanded moves as somewhat noble, since he did them for his fellow Pillar Men. However, when Kars backstabbed Lisa Lisa, Joseph was furious since he sullied the memory of his companion Wamuu. Thus it could be said that Joseph values kinship dearly.

Joseph is something of a flirt. He regularly comments on women's voluptuousness and was bold in his flirting with his future wife Suzi Q. Joseph's antagonistic behavior toward Caesar may have been out of jealousy that he could seduce girls so easily. Not knowing that Lisa Lisa was his mother, Joseph enjoyed peeping on her and when she practically revealed herself as his mother, Joseph was more concerned by her actual age.

Part III: Stardust Crusaders
In Stardust Crusaders, Joseph has considerably mellowed out, having lost much of his aggression and laziness. However, he is still irascible toward Japanese in general, due to Sado Kujo, a Japanese musician, marrying with his beloved daughter Holy. Despite this, Joseph is still nice to his grandson Jotaro and Jotaro's friend, Noriaki Kakyoin. His penchant for befriending people is still present, notably with the appearance of his new friend Mohammad Avdol, and his tendency to approach the locals first and communicate with them, overall being the one to deal business with them. For instance he takes it upon himself to order food in Hong Kong, gladly approaches an Indian barman to try sugar cane juice, tries to salute a hotel owner in Pakistan,  as well as order shishkebab in Karachi.

Joseph is much more responsible than in Battle Tendency, being more proactive in his quest to Egypt, and also sometimes reminding his younger companions of their goals when they are distracted. Years of peace and the appearance of the much stranger Stands means that Joseph lost some of his talents at outsmarting enemies, and is often the victim of the Stands he encounters. However, Joseph hasn't lost all of his skills and is capable of outsmarting enemies, having successfully cheated against Telence D'Arby, and figuring out The World time stop's limits. Upon his "death", Joseph gave one final advice to Jotaro, saying that he had much fun during their journey.

Joseph's goofy side is also still present, and Joseph's somewhat frequent failures at blending with the local culture and his struggle at battling Stands are a constant source of humor. Moreover, his boastful nature leads him to occasional goofs, such as misreading Chinese so much he orders dishes completely different from what he figured, or pretending to know how to ride camels only to ridicule himself. At the end of the saga, he demonstrates again his love for pranks, briefly making Jotaro believe that he was DIO resurrected upon being saved via a transfusion.

Part IV: Diamond is Unbreakable
In Diamond is Unbreakable, his advancing age has weakened his mind and he appears to have become somewhat senile. Joseph is now a pacified and even weak-willed man, even sadly accepting Josuke's demand that he not interact with Josuke's mother. Despite this, Joseph is still a well-meaning old man who is willing to risk his life for others and is nice enough to offer some advice to Yukako about her crush. Living in Morioh seems to have done him good, and at the end of the part, Joseph is more lively and happier, expressing confidence in the youth of Morioh at protecting the small town.

Part II: Battle Tendency
18 years old, Joseph is tall (195 cm/6'5") and powerfully built, with light eyes. He has dark and unkempt hair, parts of his bangs shooting outwards in spikes, apart from which he closely resembles his grandfather Jonathan Joestar.

Joseph's primary outfit is relatively minimal and pragmatic. He wears a tank top cut above the navel, gloves studded at the knuckles, fitting pants with a leather belt, and knee-high leather boots. In Switzerland he dons a long, broad, striped scarf; and later, as a gift from Caesar, a long, thin headband patterned with a row of tessellated triangles.

Initially he wears a white collared shirt with tie and suspenders, and a greatcoat chequered across the shoulders. Other articles include an aviator's hat (as motorcycle gear), a knit cap, and a breathing mask designed for Ripple training.

Later depictions of Joseph include the aviator hat and goggles, both of which were permanently added to differentiate him from Jonathan and compliment the overall 'mechanical feel' brought about by the various planes and motorcycles present in Part 2.

Part III: Stardust Crusaders
At 67, Joseph retains most of his health and muscularity, though his face displays his age (due in part to having neglected his Ripple training). His hair is trim and gray, and he sports a thick, gray, trimmed beard.

During the group's journey to Egypt, he wears a fedora; a light, short-sleeved, buttonless shirt; khaki pants (often compared to this extent to Indiana Jones' basic outfit); dress shoes; dark wristbands, and white gloves concealing a prosthetic left hand (a result of his fight with Kars). At his introduction he also wears a trench coat and sweater.

Part IV: Diamond is Unbreakable
At 79, Joseph has aged normally. While his stature is still apparent, he is hunched and uses a cane. He wears a diminutive pair of pince-nez spectacles, and a spotted, brimmed woolen hat with ear flaps reminiscent of an ushanka. He wears a thick trench coat, a collared shirt and tie, and baggy pants.

Powers
Joseph inherited Hamon abilities from his grandfather, Jonathan Joestar, as well as his mother Lisa Lisa. In addition, he uses techniques commonly present in stage magic to confuse his foes. After his Hamon training, he frequently combines his Hamon with other objects to perform complex and creative attacks. Later in Part III, he shows that he is able to pass the Hamon through his stand.

Hermit Purple manifests itself as a tangle of thorny vines, which Joseph can wield as both weapon and defense. Joseph develops the stand after Dio pierces Jonathan's body with the Arrow, upon which it responded to Dio and Enya awakening The World. The Hermit card primarily gives a meaning of solitude, introspective, or soul-searching, which could symbolise Joseph's lifelong journey. It also carries a more direct meaning of teaching or advising, which is Joseph's main role in Part three.