Sunday, October 24, 2021

Character Analysis: Dio Brando(Feat Lousy)

 



Background


Height: 165 cm | 6’5

Age: 123 years old


-Named after the actor Marlon Brando and the heavy metal band DIO.

-Studied to be a lawyer.

-Practiced Football and Boxing as a kid.


The story begins in 1867 in the slums of Britain, where Dio Brando spent most of his early life. 

Sick of his alcoholic and abusive father, Dario Brando, Dio slowly poisoned Dario in secret until he was on his deathbed. Before passing, Dario presented Dio with a letter of introduction to none other than the owner of the Joestar estate, Jorge Joestar. Who Dario had ‘saved’ (but not really) in a carriage accident years before. He told Dio if he played his cards right the Joestar fortune could be his.


With nowhere to go after Dario’s death, Dio used the letter and was adopted into the Joestar family where he put on the appearance of a model gentleman. But in reality, he was bullying and messing with the real Joestar heir, Jonathan Joestar, every chance he had, forcefully kissing his girlfriend, killing his dog, ETC. Once Jonathan fought back and clocked Dio for his actions, Dio pretended to have lightened up, and treated Jonathan kindly for the next few years.


Up until they graduated from the Hugh Hudson Academy, after which Dio began secretly poisoning Jonathan’s father, Jorge Joestar, in a ploy for the Joestar family fortune. Jonathan found out about Dio’s attempted murder, and quickly made his way to Ogre Street to find evidence that would convict Dio. All while fighting with several of Dio’s henchmen, and meeting the loveable, ever-interfering Speedwagon. 


During Jonathan’s time away, Dio began experimenting with a mysterious stone mask. His confrontation with Jonathan years prior helped him discover that the mask reacted to blood, releasing a series of spiked tendrils. He hoped to use the mask to kill Jonathan, and make the death look like an accident. But when Dio tested it out on a hapless civilian, he learned that the mask didn’t actually kill the victim. It turned them into vampires!


Dio returned to the Joestar mansion, and Jonathan and the authorities were waiting for him. They had the evidence of Dio’s poisoning, the antidote for Jorge Joestar, and were prepared to put Dio away. With his back to the wall, and newly obtained knowledge of the mask, Dio put on the stone mask, stabbed Jorge Joestar, and in the ultimate rejection of his humanity, smeared the mask with the blood of his adopted father to become a vampire. Despite the authorities gunning him down moments later, Dio survived, and battled with Jonathan. Jonathan triumphed, impaling Dio on a giant statue where he was left to burn as the mansion was reduced to ashes. 


But surprise, Dio survived that as well, and began amassing a group of vampire servants. After receiving training from William A. Zeppeli and battling through Dio’s undead henchmen, Jonathan came face to face with Dio again. Utilizing the power of Hamon, I.E sunlight energy generated through breathing, Jonathan managed to defeat Dio with a Hamon-infused punch that spread throughout Dio’s body, almost killing him for good. Unfortunately for Jonathan, Dio decapitated himself in a moment of quick thinking, so the Hamon energy would not reach his head and permanently kill him, leading Dio to fall from the top of the mountain, heavily injured, but alive.


Two weeks after Dio’s presumed defeat, Jonathan married the love of his life, Erina, and boarded a ship for their honeymoon. On this ship, Dio made his return yet again, and permanently injured Jonathan, who sacrificed himself so Erina could survive the exploding ship unharmed, while he took him and Dio to their watery grave. Dio however took Jonathan’s body, and placed his head on it. Then put himself in a casket to survive the exploding ship. He would spend almost 100 years trapped underneath the ocean within said casket.


Fast forward to 1983. A group of fishermen recovered Dio’s casket, and were killed when Dio awoke. Now free, Dio travelled the world for several years, recruiting multiple followers, and meeting a woman by the name of Enya, who bestowed upon him a great new power: A Stand. Despite the great power Dio’s new Stand and body afforded him, he still hadn’t perfectly adjusted to using Jonathan’s body. He needed something else to become whole. He needed the blood of Jonathan’s descendants.


Around the time Dio unlocked his Stand, so did the descendants of the Joestar family. Including Jonathan’s grandson, Joseph Joestar, Joseph’s daughter Holly, and Holly’s son, Jotaro Kujo. This caused Holly, who was unable to control her Stand, to become deathly ill. And the only way to cure her illness was Dio’s death. Thus began the journey of Jotaro, Joseph, and the rest of the Stardust Crusaders to find Dio and put an end to him once and for all.


After fighting through dozens of Dio’s cronies, Jotaro and co. finally reached Dio in Egypt, and successfully killed him (for real this time), albeit, at the cost of several of their friends. Though even in death, Dio’s legacy continued to haunt the Joestar family. It is what ultimately led to the complete rewriting of the universe, carried out by the hands of Dio’s friend and disciple, Enrico Pucci.


Experience


Having lived in two different eras, Dio has a fair share of experience, and demonstrations of being quick-witted.


-Dio was trained in boxing at a young age, and isn’t afraid to fight dirty.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-1-page-27.html 

-Dio was crafty enough to form a plan to kill his adoptive father and Jonathan that spanned years.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-1-page-88.html 

-He managed to amass a group of supporters to fight for him on two different occasions. Some of these people were mind controlled or zombified by him, but others followed him purely due to the charisma he exuded. This includes individuals such as the D’arby brothers, who made a living out of deceiving and taking away people’s souls through gambling and games.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-23-page-6.html 

-Dio has narrowly avoided several close calls with death thanks to his quick thinking. Such as when he intentionally decapitated himself so the Hamon he was inflicted with would not reach his head.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-5-page-35.html 

-Despite normally being incredibly arrogant, Dio can exercise caution and think carefully when needed. Such as when he was battling Jotaro, and tried to hear his heartbeat to make sure he was dead.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-28-page-39.html 


Arsenal


Knives: Dio ordinarily fights with just his bare hands and natural abilities, but has used knives as improvised projectiles in the past.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-28-page-18.html 


Abilities


Beyond superhuman strength, speed, and durability Dio has…


Vampiric Physiology: Thanks to the stone mask, Dio has gained enhanced senses, agility, and a slew of vampiric powers. It’s worth noting, Dio is not a vampire in a traditional sense. The tentacles in the mask he used didn’t give him any demonic power or mystical energy. They simply ‘brought forth a power hidden in the brain’. In other words, Dio’s powers are biological rather than mystical or demonic.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-2-page-54.html 


Blood Absorption: Dio can absorb the blood of people through his fingers. This is what fuels his healing factor.

-Absorbing blood to heal.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-28-page-16.html 


Regeneration: Dio can survive and heal from ordinarily fatal wounds. This includes getting shot in the head, having most of his skin burned off, getting cut in half, and impalement. Dio’s healing capabilities should also be comparable to the vampire, Straits, who was also able to regenerate from being blown to bits.


-Shot in the head.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-2-page-46.html 

-Skin burned off.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-2-page-79.html 

-Cut in half.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-5-page-18.html 

-Impalement.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-28-page-11.html 

-Blown to bits.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-6-page-57.html 


However, this regeneration can be overtaxed, which will require Dio to absorb more blood if he wants to continue healing.


-Straits mentioning that healing his body requires a lot of energy.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-6-page-62.html 


Space Ripper Stingy Eyes: Dio can fire pressurized fluid from his eyes as a powerful projectile. This attack is strong enough to rip through stone and pierce most ordinary foes.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-5-page-32.html 


Vaporization Freezing: Dio’s enhanced control over his body extends to temperature control. Because of this he can absorb the heat of foes through skin contact, enough to freeze them solid.

-Dio freezing Dire solid.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-5-page-8.html 


Super Hearing: Dio’s senses are adept enough that he can hear heartbeats through the ground.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-28-page-39.html 


Hypnosis: Dio has some minor hypnosis he can use to control people.

-Dio hypnotized Poco to lead Jonathan and Zeppeli to him.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-3-page-65.html 


Flesh Buds: Dio can create special flesh buds from his hair, which pierce the victim’s head, sending tendrils through their brain, making them loyal to Dio. The buds can only be removed through careful surgical precision, and then destroyed through sunlight energy.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-13-page-71.html 


There are some claims that Dio lost these vampiric powers after taking Jonathan’s body, but… He didn’t. He still shows the ability to absorb blood in Part 3, and he developed new applications of his vampiric powers in said part (the flesh buds). It stands to reason he still has his abilities from Part 1 as well. While it’s secondary media, he outright says he still has the powers in the Over Heaven novel, he just doesn’t use them because they aren’t very useful in a Stand battle.


"I am still certainly able to use it now, but as my body is now that of Jonathan's--- it is currently difficult for me to control perfectly. And more importantly, the Vaporization Freeze Technique is not very useful in a Stand battle." - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Over Heaven, pg. 174


The World


After being pierced by a mystical arrow, Dio gained a new ability. A guardian manifested from his mental and life energy, which Dio can call upon to carry out his will. This is a Stand. 


There are a variety of different types of Stands and powers, but they all generally follow the ‘rules’ outlined in the manga. There are some exceptions, but they’re rare. The important rules to note for Dio are…


-Stands move according to the will and desires of the user, but can act autonomously in order to preserve the life of the user (and themselves). Such as when Star Platinum autonomously caught a bullet to keep it from hitting Jotaro.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-13-page-10.html 

-Stands are spiritual/mental, and therefore cannot normally be affected by anything other than other Stands or abilities that can affect things astrally.

-Stands and their user typically share the same damage. If one is harmed so is the other.

-A Stand’s energy is proportional to the range of the operator. The closer they are to their user, the stronger they become.


A breakdown of the ‘Stand Rules’ can be found here.

https://i.imgur.com/4WL49oz.jpg 


Dio’s Stand, The World, is notable for being one of the fastest and strongest Stands in the series, and has several different abilities...


Spiritual Existence: The World like other Stands exists on the spiritual plane, and because of this cannot be seen by ordinary people who don’t have spiritual awareness.


Intangibility: The World is the same type of Stand as Star Platinum, and thus capable of becoming intangible.

-Star Platinum becoming intangible.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-18-page-17.html 


Pseudo-Flight: Using The World, Dio can float and move through the air.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-27-page-99.html 


Timestop: The primary ability of The World, which freezes time so only Dio can move. Thanks to Dio’s vampiric physiology, he isn’t constrained by the stamina limits using the ability would normally have, and can spam his time stop freely. The longest he has ever stopped time is 10 to 11 seconds. Though after absorbing Joseph Joestar’s blood Dio stated the more he used the ability, the greater the duration in which he could stop time would become.

-Dio trolling Polnareff by spamming The World.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-27-page-17.html 

-11 seconds being Dio’s limit.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-28-page-72.html 

-Dio stating the length at which he can stop time increases.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-27-page-89.html 


Feats


Strength & Destructive Power


-Lifted a road roller. (Volume 28, Page 68)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-28-page-68.html 

-Dispersed some clouds with his Space Ripper Stingy Eyes. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Phantom Blood, Episode 8, 20:21)


Speed & Agility


-Deflected the Emerald Splash. (Volume 27, Page 52)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-27-page-52.html 

-Reacted to a shotgun blast. (Volume 28, Page 18)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-28-page-5.html 

-Matched punches with Star Platinum. (Volume 28, Page 59)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-28-page-59.html 


Durability & Survivability


-Prior to becoming a vampire, survived a punch from a newly awakened vampire who could casually punch apart stone. (Volume 2, Page 18)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-2-page-18.html 

-Survived being punched into a stone staircase by Star Platinum. (Volume 28, Page 43)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-28-page-43.html 

-Survived getting cut in half. (Volume 5, Page 18)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-5-page-18.html 

-Survived decapitation. (Volume 5, Page 18)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-5-page-35.html 


Scaling


Who does Dio scale to?


Dio and The World scale physically to most of the Stand and threats throughout Jojo. Aside from having an A rank in speed and destructive power, Star Platinum and The World (which are the same type of Stand) are stated to be the ‘strongest’ Stands in terms of physicality. Meaning they would be comparable, if not superior, to Stands like Stone Free, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and C Moon. 


He should also be scalable to the Pillar Men, Hamon users, and other vampires from Parts 1 and 2, as he’s fought one of those Hamon users, casually defeated Joseph, and grew considerably stronger thanks to his Stand and time exploring his vampire powers. The exception to this would be Ultimate Kars, who Dio would not scale to.


Star Platinum also fought evenly with a powered up version of Silver Chariot, which performs several of Jojo’s faster than light feats (including the big one everyone talks about). And since Dio fought on par with Star Platinum, he too would scale to the feats.


Star Platinum


-Destroyed a set of giant teeth as hard as diamonds. (Volume 20, Page 9)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-20-page-9.html 

-Sucked in Justice’s fog that had covered an entire town. (Volume 17, Page 71)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-17-page-71.html 

-Is outright stated to be faster than the speed of light.

https://i.imgur.com/cwogjk8.png  


Silver Chariot


-Parried beams fired by The Sun. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders, Episode 18, 14:58)

https://m.wcostream.com/jojos-bizarre-adventure-stardust-crusaders-episode-18-english-subbed 

-Intercepted and sliced Hanged Man as it travelled to a coin at lightspeed. (Volume 16, Page 31)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-16-page-31.html 


Joseph Joestar


-Dodged the Stone of Aja’s laser from point-blank range. (Volume 8, Page 95)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-8-page-95.html 


Kars


-Blocked a UV ray from point-blank range. (Volume 9, Page 85)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-9-page-85.html 


Stone Free


-Parried Planet Waves’ meteors. (Volume 71, Page 16)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-71-page-16.html 


Red Hot Chili Peppers


-Absorbed all the electrical energy of the town of Morioh (Volume 34, Page 5)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-34-page-5.html 


C Moon


-Passively generates a gravitational field with a 3km radius that can ‘push’ objects away from the user. (Volume 79, Page 83)

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Jojos-Bizarre-Adventure-Color-chapter-79-page-83.html 


Weaknesses


Put politely, Dio is an exceptionally arrogant bastard, and will often toy with his foes if he feels he has the upper hand. While he will take things seriously when he realizes someone poses a threat, sometimes it can be too late. Such as his battle with the Stardust Crusaders, where him toying with them let Jotaro last long enough to eventually adapt to The World’s time stop.


In typical vampire fashion, he is also deathly vulnerable to sunlight. And though The World’s time stop is very useful, characters with their own time stop or immunity to time manipulation can counteract it.





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