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This article's content is marked as Mature Joseph Joestar contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature articles are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| NOTE: This page covers Joseph Joestar from the original continuity. For his alternate counterpart Joseph "Fumi" Joestar, see here. |
| “ | "You're next line is/Next you'll say..." | „ |
| ~ Joseph Joestar's most well known catchphrase. |
| “ | OH NO!/OH MY GOD! | „ |
| ~ Joseph's catchphrase if something goes wrong.
|
| “ | RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! | „ |
| ~ Young Joseph using his strategic way as a "secret art", also known as "NIGERUNDAYO!" in Japanese.
|
| “ | 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 Joestar to Nena. |
Joseph "JoJo" Joestar is the titular deuteragonist of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure franchise.
He's the grandson of Jonathan Joestar and a skilled Hamon warrior, known by his strong wits and ability to improvise all kinds of tricks during his fights. As a master of the Hamon technique, he goes on a quest to defeat the Pillar Men and their leader, Kars.
He's also the grandfather of Jotaro Kujo, and even in his old age, he served as his primary mentor and guided him in their own quest to defeat the family's arch-nemesis, DIO, who had stolen the body of Joseph's grandfather and awakened all latent stands in the Joestar Family. Joseph wields the Stand known as Hermit Purple, which takes the form of purple vines that sprout from his arm, which possess the ability to create divine projections through electronic devices, as well as transmit Hamon energy through them. Joseph is overall the second most recurring JoJo in the series, right after his own grandson.
Joseph is the titular main protagonist of Part II: Battle Tendency, the titular deuteragonist of Part III: Stardust Crusaders, and one of the two overarching protagonists (alongside Reimi Sugimoto) of Part IV: Diamond is Unbreakable.
Portrayals[]
- In Japanese, he was voiced by the late Kenji Utsumi and the late Gorō Naya in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders drama CDs, the late Chikao Ohtsuka in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders OVA, Hōchū Ōtsuka in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future as "Young Joseph", Tōru Ōkawa in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future as "Old Joseph", Tomokazu Sugita (who also voiced Kiyomasa Katō) in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle (where he played both forms of Joseph), JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven, and the anime (in both of which he plays "Young Joseph" only), and the late Unshō Ishizuka (who also voiced Ujiyasu Hōjō) in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven and the anime (in both of which he plays "Old Joseph").
- In English, he was voiced by Michael Bennett in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders OVA, Ben Diskin in the anime as "Young Joseph", and Richard Epcar in the anime as "Old Joseph".
Personality[]
| “ | Oh no! The phrase I hate the most is "hard work" and my second most hated phrase is "work hard"! | „ |
| ~ Joseph after Caesar chides him into training with Hamon master, Lisa Lisa |
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 the events of the story, he had been imprisoned seven times and expelled once from school for fighting.Having no respect for authority except for his grandmother's, and later Lisa Lisa's, Joseph has antagonized policemen and mafiosi alike. Furthermore, Joseph is a foul-mouthed individual and regularly taunts his enemies, enjoying aggravating them. His signature taunt is predicting his enemy's next line, which is shown to be correct all the time. 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 Hamon 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. He also often incorporates his taunts into fights, to distract his enemies into otherwise obvious traps. A show-off, Joseph likes being the center 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.
Despite his nature, Joseph truly cares for his friends and comrades and wants to protect them at all costs. This is showcased many times as Joseph repeatedly saves his family and friends from danger again and again. He also does not tolerate disrespect towards his friends, shown as he beat up a racist thug because he called his friend, Smokey a pig. Besides this, Joseph has a special bond with his grandma Erina, who always tried her best to keep him in line under her care, while also toughening him up and encouraging him to do the right thing if he so needs be, such as when she motivated Joseph while he stood up for Smokey.
In Stardust Crusaders, Joseph has considerably mellowed out, having lost much of his aggression and laziness. Still irascible towards the Japanese in general, due to a Japanese man marrying his beloved daughter Holy and finding the living quarters of their architecture too small to his liking but Joseph admires their technology as well as being able to get along well with his grandson and Noriaki Kakyoin, and for some unknown reason, has an affair with Tomoko Higashikata which led to the birth of their lovechild, Josuke. His penchant for befriending people is still present, notably with the appearance of his new friend Muhammad 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 shish kebab in Karachi.
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 Mandarin 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.
In his final appearance in the series on Diamond is Unbreakable, Joseph has now lost much of his lucidity due to age, now growing a bit more senile. Nevertheless, Joseph now appears to be a very kind and gentle old man, and showcases deep remorse for his previous affair, as well as for not being present on Josuke's life, trying to make up for it in any way he can. Despite his age, he's still shown to be very helpful towards others, not just to his son, but also people like Yukako Yamagishi, to whom he tried to help recommending the Cinderella salon to her. He also, in the same Part, takes an orphan Stand user baby girl under his wing, adopting her under the name of Shizuka Joestar, showing his altruism still remains intact even after all these years. After the events of the Part, Joseph also seemed to have become more lively after spending his time in Morioh, parting ways with Josuke on good terms.
Powers and Abilities[]
- High intelligence: Even without any abilities, Joseph is wickedly intelligent, being able to play intense mind games, be dangerously resourceful with his environment, use clever strategies that manage to always come out on top despite seeming idiotic at first, and is willing to do whatever it takes to secure victory, be it clean or dirty. In fact, his tactic of fleeing a fight is mainly for him to think up of a new strategy while on the run.
- Agility: On top of his skills, Joseph is presented as also being quite agile, even during his older years, being able to do aerial stunts or swing from rooftops with his Stand.
- Precognition: One of Joseph's most well-known quirks is that he's capable of predicting what others will say, usually as a way of taunting or distracting them.
- Expert Pilot: As a aspirant pilot, Joseph is shown as being capable of piloting all kinds of aircrafts, as he uses a german fighter aircraft in order to try and kill Kars, by diving head first into a volcano. Even in his old age, Joseph still appears to retain some of his knowledge in piloting aircrafts, as he helps his group landing the commercial aircraft safely in the water after it had been sabotaged by Gray Fly's Tower of Gray.
- Weapons expert: Throughout the second Part, Joseph is shown wielding and carrying all kinds of weapons with him, including his iconic tommy gun, which he used against Straizo in a surprise attack.
- "Secret Joestar Technique": A running gag in the series is that every time Joseph has no other plan left and is cornered by his enemies, he would use a technique he calls his "final move" in which he runs away from the enemy, almost always comically yelling "Nigerundayo!"/"Run away!" (Translated as "Run as fast as I can!" when fleeing from Straizo and a "Run for your lives!" when fleeing from Kars, acting like a coward). Despite seeming like a cowardly move, this oftentimes proves surprisingly benefitial, as it allows him to think better about his next strategies on the fly. He passed this technique to Jotaro, although the latter doesn't yell comically like his grandpa. Surprisingly, even Giorno is seems to use this technique.
Hamon[]
Joseph utilizing his signature clackers.
Ever since his early youth, Joseph showcased a surprising amount of mastery in Hamon, due to him being born with it. He's notable for his capability of applying it on everyday objects as simple a bottle of soda, to turn them into deadly tools and weapons in his hands.
- Overdrive: The most basic application of Hamon, which consists in the user channeling the energy into one of their limbs to deliver Hamon-infused attacks. Joseph usually delivers his overdrives with a chopping motion of his hands.
- Hamon Hypnosis: Much like his grandfather, Joseph is capable of hypnotizing and controlling other living beings using Hamon. As a 12-year old, he stopped a plane hijacking by using his Hamon to hypnotize the pilot into a safe landing. He would later be seen using this ability on a pidgeon in his fight against Caesar, hypnotizing the animal into going into the mouth of a woman who Caesar had hypnotized with a kiss in order to perform a sneak attack on him.
- Zoom Punch: Much like his grandfather, Jonathan, Joseph is also capable of extending his joints in order to strike opponents from afar.
- Deaccelerated Aging: Although Joseph would eventually stop his Hamon training, leading to him not being able to delay his aging like his mother did, JoJo's innate talent worked subtly, making him very robust and healthy for a 69-year-old man. Though at 79 JoJo had finally begun showing his age, as he needed a cane to walk and was now starting to go senile.
- American Clackers: Joseph's most iconic weapon are his signature clackers, made specially to conduct Hamon energy. He utilizes his clackers in all kinds of unexpected ways and has even developed a couple of techniques with them as well.
- Clacker Volley: Joseph hides his clackers behind his arms in order to slingshot them at his opponents in a surprise attack, thus making them drop their defenses and for Joseph to keep pummeling them with Hamon infused strikes with the clackers.
- Clacker Boomerang: As its name implies, by infusing it with Hamon, Joseph can throw his clackers in the direction of his opponents and then make them come back to him in a spinning motion to strike his opponents from behind.
- Hamon Hair Attack: A move improvised by Joseph during his fight with Santana, he utilizes a chunk of Stroheim's hair to form a Hamon inbued barrier to protect them from the Pillar Man's projectiles.
- Hamon Beat: A technique improvised while climbing the Hell Climb Pillar, in which he propelled himself upwards by using Hamon on his hands and feet to stick into the huge blast of oil that came from the Pillar.
- Hamon Overdrive Beat: A technique Joseph used to destroy the body of the Pillar Man, Esidisi, in which he carefully trapped him in a net made of the wool of his hat and then transmit Hamon through them.
- Rebuff Overdrive: A move in which Joseph delivers a Hamon-infused elbow strike to his opponent. He uses this technique to defend against Wamuu's attack in their final battle.
Hermit Purple[]
Hermit Purple
Joseph would eventually gain the Stand Hermit Purple, which manifests itself as a bundle of purple, thorny vines that sprout from his hands. Although not as combat-oriented like the Stands of his fellow Stardust Crusaders, they still nonetheless have very useful abilities and he can utilize it to bind his opponents and swing from high places using it.
- Spirit Photography/Divination: Hermit Purple's primary ability is to project psychic images of whatever or whoever Joseph desires through electronic devices. Most commonly, he utilizes it to create "spirit photographies" by using the Stand to destroy a camera, revealing the current location of whomever Joseph wants. He can also use it on televisions in order to cast images on it, such as when he tried to do with DIO, before being hijacked by him using Jonathan's Stand (which possesses similar abilities) to detect their "presence".
- Technokinesis: Joseph can also utilize Hermit Purple to hijack electronic devices, such as he did on their airplane as they were about to fall, and also on Terence T. Darby's videogame to see if any foul play was involved.
- Hamon Conductor: Aside from its technokinectic abilities, Hermit Purple is also shown as a powerful conductor for Hamon energy and he utilizes it combined with his Stand to deal more damage to his opponents.
- Mind reading: It's mentioned by N'Doul that Joseph's Stand is capable of reading the minds of others (which might explain his claivoirance in the earlier part) which is why he decided to kill himself in order to avoid him from discovering more intel about DIO from him.
Audio Samples[]
Overdrive (Joseph Joestar's Theme)[]
Purple Thorns (Old Joseph Joestar's Theme)[]
Trivia[]
- One of the running gags surrounding Joseph's character is that every time he goes on a plane, he would always end up crashing it, having been in 4 plane crashes throughout the series, 2 in Battle Tendency and 2 in Stardust Crusaders. In fact, in Diamond is Unbreakable, even though he was a senile old man, Jotaro had them travel by boat, not being able to trust Joseph on a plane anymore.
- Joseph's stand, Hermit Purple, is named after the tarot card The Hermit, the 9th card in the major arcana. The card symbolizes introspection and contemplation, best represented in the Stand's powers of divination.
- Hermit Purple is teased in the background of the opening music video for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency, Bloody Stream, with its shadow appearing for a split second in front of Joseph's silhouette.
- Though, in the manga, Joseph would only reveal his trademark star-shaped birthmark in his neck in Stardust Crusaders, in the anime adaptation of Battle Tendency, the Joestar birthmark appears visible on his shoulder during his fight against Santana in the Nazi research facility.
- On an interview, Araki said that he gave Joseph the wits of B.T., the titular main protagonist from Araki's previous series Cool Shock B.T., mixed with the brawn and muscles of Sylvester Stallone, while also giving him a more playful personality to differentiate him from B.T.
- According to Araki, Hermit Purple is why Joseph could precict what people could say when he taunted them; saying that if someone with an activated Stand time traveled back to Battle Tendency, they would see Purple Hermit wrapped around Joseph.
- Contradicting Speedwagon's statement of Joestars commonly living short lives, Joseph has lived the longest out of any Joestar, being said by Hirohiko Araki to still be alive (although "a little dumber") by the events of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean and also meaning that he outlived his own grandson and great-granddaughter.
- Joseph being "a little dumber" suggests he developed dementia.
- Given Lisa Lisa's whereabouts are unconfirmed after the events of Battle Tendency, it's unknown if Joseph outlived her as well.
- Ironically, despite the series' name, Joseph is the second and last Joestar to be consistently referred to as "JoJo" for most of the time, as every other protagonist after him was usually only referred to by the nickname only once or a couple times.
- Joseph is currently, is one of the few characters in the series that broke the fourth wall as he appears to be talking directly to the viewer in the scene where he peeps on Lisa Lisa taking a bath (unaware that she was his own mother at the time).
- Joseph losing his lucidity and robust body may be due to no longer practicing Hamon once Dio died; there were no more vampires nor Pillar Men that could be a threat.
- Alternatively, because he had his blood mixed with the blood from Dio's body, it risked harming Joseph of he continued using Hamon; just like Straizo.
- Thirdly, he could have just never been taught by his mother on how to slow his aging.
External Links[]
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