JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (often shortened to JoJo or abbreviated JJBA) is a shonen and seinen manga written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. The first continuity follows an intergenerational feud between the Joestar Family and various forces of evil. Part 1 to Part 3 is often regarded as "The stone mask trilogy".
Phantom Blood is the first story arc of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from January to October 1987 for a total of 44 chapters. The story follows Jonathan Joestar as he matures with and eventually combats his adoptive brother, the cunning and merciless Dio Brando.
In 1868, a carriage that had ben carrying a couple and their baby son slipped off the road. Dario Brando had stumbled upon the crash and decided to loot their corpses. Unbeknownst to Dario, the father George Joestar had survived the crash, as did his infant son, Jonathan, although his wife had died protecting the baby. Thinking Dario had come to save them, George offered Dario a reward for his "help".
In the year 1880, Dario, an old man on his death bed, tells his son, Dio, to go to the Joestars, as he is sure George would foster Dio as fulfillment of his debt. Jonathan attempts to befriend Dio, unaware of his plan to break his spirit through constant bullying and earn George's trust so that he can become the sole heir to the Joestar fortune. When Jonathan finds solace in a relationship with Erina Pendleton, Dio steals her first kiss. This one affront makes Jonathan angry enough to openly confront Dio, as well give him the strength to beat him for the first time. Dio discovers that Jonathan is tougher than he thought. After burning Jonathan's dog Danny to death in an incinerator as revenge, decides to bide his time and try to earn Jonathan's trust.
A little over seven years later, in the year 1888, both Jonathan and Dio have now become friendly and trustworthy to each other, which follows Dio's scheme. George Joestar falls ill suddenly and Jonathan suspects that Dio had poisoned him. Jonathan confronts him about his suspicions, and Dio decides to dispose of Jonathan before he is exposed. Dio plans to use an ancient stone mask that George Joestar had acquired. When touched by blood, the mask extruded several bony hooks which, had anyone been wearing it, would have pierced his skull at several points.
However, to be assured of the lethal effect of the mask, Dio experiments with it on a drunken beggar he finds in the dilapidated London boroughs he frequents to replenish his stash of poison. To his horror, the exposure to the mask's bony hooks not only does not kill his test subject but instead rejuvenates and transforms him into a vampire. Dio is saved from the monster's attack when the sun comes up and the vampire turns into dust. Dio reuturns home with a new plan and is cornered by Jonathan. Dio attempts to stab Jonathan but hits George instead. After the knife kills George, Dio dons the Stone Mask. A tense fight between Jonathan and Dio ensues. Jonathan, attempting to find a way to kill the seemingly invulnerable creature, resorts to burning down his whole mansion while keeping Dio trapped inside. After the battle, Jonathan is hospitalized and rekindles his relationship with Erina Pendleton. Meanwhile, Dio emerges from the rubble.
After recovering, Jonathan meets a man called Will Anthonio Zeppeli, an Italian baron, who teaches him a strange power called the Ripple to fight against vampires. Together, they travel to Dio in order to destory the stone mask and end the vampire menance. However, Zeppeli dies by the hands of one of Dio's minions, but not before transferring all his life force nto Jonathan. Jonathan with his new power, defeats Dio with a direct hit to the power. To save himself, Dio severs his head from his disintegrating body.
Shortly after, Jonathan marries Erina and Erina becomes pregnant. The couples board a ship to America for their honeymoon. However, Jonathan is ambushed by Dio, who plans to kill him and attach his own head to Jonathan's body. Jonathan uses the last of the Ripple in order to destroy the ship, causing it to sink. As he urges for Erina to flee, Dio ensnares Jonathan with tendrils from his neck and attempts to decapitate him, only for Jonathan to holds Dio's head in his arms, reflecting on their fate as the ship begins to sink. Dio demands to be let free, only to find that Jonathan has already died from his wounds. The ship explodes with both men inside as Erina escapes in Dio's coffin, pregnant with Jonathan's child, as well as protecting a surviving infant whose parents were killed in the attack on the ship, thus setting in motion the events of the entire series.
Battle Tendency is the second story arc of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from November 1987 to March 1989. Taking place in 1938-39, the story follows the misadventures of Joseph Joestar, grandson of Jonathan, as he masters his innate Ripple abilities in order to combat hostile, ancient super-beings named the Pillar Men, creators of the Stone Mask that plot to become the ultimate lifeforms.
In 1938, Speedwagon discovers an ancient temple filled with stone masks. Inside, he is betrayed by one of Zeppeli's friend and his unconscious body is captured by nazis. Joseph Joestar recieves this news from a person in the mafia. Joseph travels to Mexico and learns from an assassin named Donovan that the Nazis under the command of Rudol von Stroheim have taken Speedwagon prisoner. Stroheim and his forces are revealed to have extracted the Pillarman and proceed to revive him for research purposes. The pillar man is nicknamed Santana and kills most of the men there. Thankfully, Joseph intervenes and saves Speedwagon in time. The battle against the superhuman Santana pushes Joseph to his limits and Stroheim is forced to trigger a grenade against his chest to stop the creature. In Stroheim's final words, Joseph learns that a trio of Pillar Men are sleeping in Rome.
Speedwagon and Joseph travel to Rome, where they meet up with Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli, the grandson of Will A. Zeppeli. Unbeknownst to them, the Pillar Men are already awakening under the Coliseum. The Pillar Men, Wamuu, Esidisi and Kars, have already awakened and killed the Germans. Joseph and Caesar confront the three Pillar Men, but the three are already familiar with Ripple users and have developed counters. Joseph makes a deal to duel with them within a month, sparing all their lives. This heroic act earns the respect of Caesar.
Wanting to teach Joseph to master his Ripple, Caesar takes him to Venice to meet his mentor: the masterful and beautiful Lisa Lisa. Near the end of their training, Lisa Lisa reveals to Joseph and Caesar that Kars is the one who created Stone Masks such as the one that caused their grandfathers' deaths. She also reveals that Kars is seeking the flawless Red Stone of Aja, an amplifier, in her possession to perfect the Mask and use it to become the ultimate life-form. Esidisi ambushes Joseph, but is defeated wtih the help of Caesar. The group discover that aja had been stolen and was placed on a train on its way to Kars. The Nazis intercepted the train due to an order given by Stroheim, who had been rebuilt into a cyborg with the strength of Santana.
The group learns that pillarman are residing in an abandoned building and they debate whether they should attack. A fight ensues, and an angry Caesar decides to go to the hotel without support. Caesar managages to bring Wammu to his knees but a split second error allow the pillarman to fatally injure the warrior. With his last breath, Caesar remembers how his grandfather died, and in a final defiant act uses his Ripple to leave his headband as a gift to Joseph. Hearing Caesar's shout, Joseph rushes inside the building, only to find that his body had been crushed by the rubble.
Inside the building, Lisa Lisa and Joseph makes a deal with the pillarman to have a fair duel. Putting on Caesar's bandana, Joseph engages Wamuu in a chariot race super-powered by vampire horses. Joseph is able to defeat Wamuu whose body is destroyed in the process. Joseph takes the time to honor Wamuu and drinks the antidote before his head, then salutes him. The final showdown between Lisa Lisa and Kars begins. Unexpectedly, Kars uses a body double to distract Lisa Lisa and stabs her from behind. The vampires unleash their attack on a weaken Joseph, but Speedwagon and the Nazis arrive in time to help.
Joseph manages to trick Kars and hits him with the Ripple, making the Pillar Man fall on the ground. The Nazis try to kill Kars while he's down with UV lights, but at the last moment, Kars dons a Stone Mask with the Super Aja embedded in it. Using the light to his advantage, Kars becomes the Ultimate Life form. At first, Kars doesn't appear to have changed much, however, he quickly displays an incredible ability to transform into any lifeform and his newfound immunity to the sun and Ripple. Everyone in despair, Joseph makes a strategic retreat in order to lure out Kars by piloting a plane into a volcano. Kars unexpectedly reemerges unscathed from the lava and severs Joseph's left arm with a sneak attack. Both Joseph and Stroheim realize that they cannot hope to defeat the Ultimate Lifeform and accept their deaths.
Kars prepares to deal the final blow to Joseph with an ironic Ripple infused punch, Joseph instinctively pulls out the Red Stone of Aja and empowers his attacks. The surge of energy shoots through Joseph's hand and hits the volcano, which under the influence of the Ripple, begins to erupt, sending Kars into space. In space, Kars quickly finds out all his evolution are useless and that he has no way to return back to Earth. Even though he wished for death, his body was physically incapable, and he eventually stopped thinking. Weeks later the group of Erina, Lisa Lisa, and Speedwagon pay their respects as they have a funeral for the assumed-to-be-dead Joseph Joestar, but to their surprise, Joseph appears, alive and well, and unaware of whose funeral he decided to interrupt. The part ends with Joseph visiting Japan to see his trouble making grandson.
Stardust Crusaders is the third part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from March 1989 to April 1992. From 1988 to 1989, the story follows Jotaro Kujo and his friends as they journey from Tokyo to Cairo to save his mother's life by defeating his family's resurrected archenemy, DIO.
Four years ago near the Canary Islands, a trio of treasure hunters bring up a casket bearing the engraving of the name "DIO" around dusk. When the ship was found days later, only the empty coffin remained. The story begins in the year 1987 in Tokyo, Japan, with Holy Kujo, daughter of Joseph Joestar, visiting her son Jotaro Kujo after learning he is in jail for having beaten up four people. But the reason Holy was called was because Jotaro refuses to leave his cell, explaining that he is possessed by an evil spirit. Holy calls her estranged father, who flies to Japan and arrives at the airport with Holy and his fortune-telling companion Muhammad Avdol. Avdol attempts to force Jotaro out with his own evil spirit. Jotaro learns from Joseph that the spirit in his possession is actually a manifestation of his lifeforce, named a Stand. Jotaro's stand gains the upper hand but he exits his cell in the process, prompting Avdol to end the battle.
Joseph displays his Stand Hermit Purple, which enables him to take photographs of faraway places. Joseph states that the reason he and Jotaro have gained Stands is because of the reemergence of DIO. Knowing only what his grandmother Erina told him, Joseph explains that DIO succeeded in grafting his head onto the body of Jonathan Joestar, which created a link between DIO and Jonathan's descendants.
The following day, Jotaro heads out to high school as he is stalked by a transfer student named Noriaki Kakyoin. Revealing himself as an assassin sent by DIO to kill those of the Joestar bloodline, Kakyoin uses his Stand Hierophant Green to attack Jotaro. But Jotaro's Stand, easily overpowers Kakyoin, who is taken to the Kujo residence where he is revealed to be brainwashed by a parasitic spore produced by DIO. Jotaro risks his life to extract the Flesh Bud and saves Kakyoin.
Tragedy strikes the following day when Holy falls ill due to her own Stand manifesting from DIO's influence. Without the necessary willpower that her son and father possess, Holy is slowly being killed by her own Stand. Joseph and Avdol determine that Holy will die in fifty days unless they kill DIO to break his influence. Joseph uses Hermit Purple to confirm DIO's location in Egypt. Kakyoin joins the group and Holy is placed in the care of doctors from the Speedwagon Foundation. Before Jotaro's group departs for the airport, Avdol names Jotaro's Stand, Star Platinum.
Over the course of the journey, the Joestar group rescues Jean Pierre Polnareff, another victim of DIO. With the 5 men, they travel to Egypt in order to defeat DIO, defeating 28 assassins along the way. After reaching Cairo, the crusaders gain another ally, Iggy, a dog who possess The Fool. Meanwhile, DIO's power remained unknown to the rest of the group. Iggy lead the crusaders into DIO's mansion where Jotaro, Joseph and Kakyoin are ambushed and separated from the others. DIO's final minion, Vanilla Ice, is ressuracted as a vampire after he sacifices his own head as a sign of loyalty. Polnareff, Iggy, and Avdol enter the mansion, all argeeing to look out for themselves. However, Vanilla Ice ambushes the group and Avdol pushes his companions out of the way. His sacifice saves both Iggy and Polnareff but Avdol himself had been erased from existence. Vanilla Ice's stand, Cream, allowed him to create a void that disintegrates everything it touched. Polnareff manages to hit Vanilla Ice, but his attacks are useless against the vampire. Iggy uses The Fool to save Polnareff but enrages Vanilla Ice, who decides to kill the dog physically instead of using the void. Finally, Polnareff pushes Vanilla Ice in the sunlight, which disintegrates the vampire.
Polnareff confronts DIO, who finally reveals his Stand The World, but is confounded by the vampire's powers. Before the fight can continue, Jotaro, Joseph and Kakyoin break through an outer wall and make DIO retreat away from the sunlight. Fearing DIO's ambush, the Joestar Group jumps out of mansion through a window and see the dusk with dread. The group splits in two: Kakyoin and Joseph luring DIO while Jotaro and Polnareff will follow him. Risking his life, Kakyoin probes The World's ability. Kakyoin unravels Hierophant Green to attack DIO from all sides, and the Vampire finally uses his power. DIO reveals that his stand, The World, allowed him to stop time for up to 5 seconds. Within that time, DIO punched through Kakyoin, sending him flying into a water tower. While DIO gloats, Kakyoin manages to grasp the power of his foe. Unable to speak, he shoots a clock tower before dying, allowing Joseph understand The World's ability. DIO pursues Joseph and just as he warns Jotaro about DIO, the vampire stops time and launches a knife to his throat. Jotaro discovers that The World and Star Platinum are the same type of stand, allowing Jotaro to move in DIO's stopped time.
The vampire feeds on Joseph's blood and, now fully synchronized with Jonathan Joestar's body, becomes more powerful by the second. DIO tries to crush Jotaro under a road roller, but pushed to his limits, Jotaro unlocks his ability to stops time. He manages to get behind DIO and crushes his leg. On the ground, DIO tries a last futile attack, and Star Platinum breaks The World in half, defeating DIO for good. After his victory, Jotaro oversees a blood transfusion from DIO to Joseph and revives his grandfather. Afterward, they expose the Vampire's remains to the sun and mourn the death of the fallen crusaders. Some time later, Jotaro, Joseph, and Polnareff say their goodbyes to one another before going their separate ways. Holy finally awakens back in Japan and eagerly awaits her son and her father's return.
