Character Analysis: Jonathan Joestar(Feat Lousy)

 

Background

Height: 6’5 | 195 cm

Weight: 231 lbs | 105 kg

Age: 20

Nickname: Jojo

-Majored in Archaeology

In the year 1868, the noble, George Joestar I, was caught in a carriage accident that would forever change the fate of the world. A random thug, Dario Brando, began pilfering the crashed carriage, thinking everyone in it to be dead. But to his surprise, George survived, as did his baby son, Jonathan Joestar, who was protected in the crash by his mother. When George Joestar awoke, he mistakenly thought Dario had saved his life, and promised to repay his debt in the future.

Fastforward 12 years and Dario is on his deathbed, thanks to his son Dio poisoning him, unbeknownst to Dario. In his final act among the living, Dario gave Dio a letter of introduction to the Joestar estate, saying that if he played things smart, the Joestars’ fortune could be his. Dio took this letter, and was adopted into the Joestar family. Where, upon meeting his new brother Jonathan, he kicked Jonathan’s dog, gouged his eye, continuously spread rumors about him, and in general made Jonathan’s life a living hell.

Jonathan may have lived his entire life in Dio’s shadow, if not for the interference of his friend and love interest Erina, who continued to support him.  Afraid that Jonathan’s relationship with Erina may give him some fighting spirit, he forcibly kissed Erina, stealing her first kiss away from Jonathan. But this simply made Jonathan more angry, and he promptly fought and decked the shit out of Dio. In the midst of their fighting some of their blood spilled on a curious relic George Joestar had hung up: The Stone Mask.

After their confrontation, and secretly setting Jonathan’s dog on fire, Dio spent the next 7 years treating Jonathan much better, all as part of an act to eventually get rid of him and George Joestar, who he had begun poisoning. But Jonathan remained wary of Dio, and eventually stumbled across the letter Dario had written years back. Noticing that the symptoms his father exhibited were strikingly similar to Dario’s, Jonathan confronted Dio and learned the truth behind his father’s sickness.

He then ventured to Ogre Street to find evidence that would convict Dio of his treachery, and an antidote for his father. All while fighting with several street thugs, and meeting the loveable, ever-interfering Speedwagon. Jonathan returned to the Joestar manor with the authorities, ready to arrest Dio. 

With his back to the wall, and newly obtained knowledge of the stone mask he and Jonathan fought in front of so many years ago, 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 Jonathan with his new vampiric powers. But Jonathan triumphed, impaling Dio on a giant statue where he was left to burn as the mansion was reduced to ashes.

Jonathan recovered from the experience, but his ordeal was far from over. Dio had survived the Joestar estate burning. To put a stop to him, Jonathan was trained by William A. Zeppeli in a breathing based martial art: The Hamon.

Jonathan, Speedwagon, and Zeppeli then travelled to hunt down Dio, and along the way were confronted by two undead knights, Bruford and Tarkus. The group managed to defeat Bruford, with Bruford bestowing Jonathan his sword, Luck & Pluck out of respect. Tarkus however proved a much bigger challenge. In the end, Zeppeli sacrificed himself and passed on his Ripple to Jonathan, giving him the strength needed to overcome their foe.

With the help of several backup Ripple warriors, and his newly acquired sword, Jonathan finally confronted and defeated Dio, hitting him with a lethal Hamon punch, and sending his body falling off a mountain. Jonathan was ready to leave his past with Dio behind and married Erina. But when the two boarded the ship for their honeymoon, it turned out, surprise, Dio survived his fight with Jonathan yet again, and used one of his henchmen to sneak his vampiric head onto the ship. Dio wanted Jonathan’s body, and was prepared to kill him for it. In a last ditch effort, Jonathan held back Dio aboard the now zombie infested ship long enough for Erina to escape.

Jonathan died cradling Dio’s head as the ship exploded. And though Dio managed to take Jonathan’s body and come back after nearly 100 years under the sea, it was Jonathan’s sacrifice that allowed Erina, and their then unborn child, to escape the ship, continue the Joestar bloodline, and ultimately defeat Dio once and for all.

Experience

-Early on in Jonathan’s life he had some experience in boxing. Though the most we ever see of this is Dio clocking him and gouging his eye in the process.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Phantom-Blood-chapter-2-page-17.html 

-He also played football in high school.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Phantom-Blood-chapter-6-page-2.html 

-Even before his ripple training, Jonathan showed some good ingenuity and thinking by utilizing his belt to grab hold of Dio.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Phantom-Blood-chapter-16-page-7.html 

-Jonathan was trained by William A. Zeppeli in Hamon. Zeppeli is a Hamon master who spent decades perfecting it, and has stated that Jonathan’s proficiency with Hamon is one in ten thousand.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Phantom-Blood-chapter-24-page-4.html 

-While not nearly as crafty as his grandson Joseph, Jonathan is still a smart fighter, capable of creating strategies on the fly. Such as when he used an underground air pocket to properly generate Hamon and defeat Bruford, or used some nearby fire to stop Dio’s freeze powers.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Phantom-Blood-chapter-28-page-19.html 

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Phantom-Blood-chapter-40-page-15.html 

Arsenal

Spear: A weapon briefly used in his fight against Dio. A simple lance for piercing attacks.

Luck & Pluck: Jonathan’s sword in the later portion of Phantom Blood. Beyond simply extending Jonathan’s range, it can also channel ripple energy.

Abilities

Beyond superhuman strength, speed, and durability, Jonathan has...

Hamon: Also called The Ripple, the primary style of fighting and energy used in early Jojo. By breathing, humans circulate oxygen and blood through their bodies. This in effect produces ripples, and manifests energy that is of the same wave-length and function as the sun’s rays. This energy can then be used to interact with other objects and materials in a variety of different ways such as…

-Walking along water.

-Purging one’s body of poison.

-Healing wounds.

-Accelerating plant life and the water in it.

-Being the same energy and wavelength as sunlight, it unsurprisingly is super-effective against vampires and the undead.

And because the ripple is an energy, it can also move through objects, theoretically letting it bypass shields to reach foes. Such as when Jonathan sent the Ripple through a wall to hit Jack the Ripper, or perhaps more infamously, when Zeppeli punched through a frog to split the rock beneath it.

The only two major limitations the power has is it requires breathing and a proper bloodstream in order to generate the energy, and the energy can dissipate more quickly when travelling through materials that are not conductive for the Hamon.

The Ripple can also be used for more specific techniques, such as...

Zoom Punch: A technique used to extend the range of the user’s punch by dislocating part of their arm, and stretching it, while using Hamon to lessen the pain.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Phantom-Blood-chapter-20-page-17.html 

Sunlight Yellow Overdrive: Jonathan’s signature technique where he lets off a rapid-fire flurry of Hamon-infused punches. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqc_27cpQ80 

Scarlet Overdrive: Jonathan builds up fire in his hand to perform a powerful punch.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Phantom-Blood-chapter-27-page-16.html 

Sendo Ripple Overdrive: A surge of Hamon energy that can move through walls.

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Phantom-Blood-chapter-23-page-17.html 

Metal Silver Overdrive: The same as the Sendo Ripple, but through metal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqc_27cpQ80  

Turquoise Blue Overdrive: Jonathan sends out a surge of ripple energy through the water, creating a large geyser. 

https://mangasee123.com/read-online/Phantom-Blood-chapter-28-page-21.html 

Life Magnetism Overdrive: Jonathan connects plant life and living matter together to form objects. The primary example being a hang glider.

Feats

Strength & Destructive Power

-Early on, Jonathan had the strength to pick Dio up with just one arm. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood, Chapter 7, Page 15)

-Ripped off a metal neck-brace. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood, Chapter 35, Page 6)

-Karate chopped Tarkus’ arm in half. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood, Chapter 35, Page 8)

-Chucked an Anvil. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood, Chapter 37, Page 9)

Speed & Agility

-Reacted to Dio’s Space Ripper Stingy Eyes. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood, Chapter 41, Page 5-6)

-Intercepted a punch between Zeppeli and Dio as it was moments away from colliding. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood, Chapter 25, Page 18)

-Can punch fast enough to make after images. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood, Chapter 29, Page 18)

Durability & Survivability

-Held back Speedwagon’s razor sharp hat. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood, Chapter 9, Page 8)

-Continued fighting even with both of his arms broken. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood, Chapter 16, Page 11)

-Survived a long fall early on in his adventure. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood, Chapter 16, Page 14) 

Scaling

Who does Jonathan scale to?

Jonathan scales to most of the significant threats in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. He’s noted for being proficient in Hamon, completely overpowered Tarkus after receiving Zeppeli’s ripple, and managed to defeat Dio multiple times. Dio later went on to take hits from Star Platinum, and was generally considered to have the strongest Stand alongside Jotaro in Part 3.

While Dio did have a different body (technically Jonathan’s body) in Part 3, there’s no reason to think said body was significantly stronger than the vampiric body he fought Jonathan in. If anything, his Part 3 body was slightly weaker since he was still becoming accustomed to it, and had to take the blood of Joseph before he could get to full power. Speaking of which, Jonathan should also be comparable to his successor, Joseph.

Tarkus

-Destroyed a large cliff

Star Platinum

-Destroyed a set of giant teeth as hard as diamonds. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Stardust Crusaders, Volume 20, Page 9,

Joseph Joestar

-Dodged the Stone of Aja’s laser from point-blank range. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Battle Tendency, Volume 8, Page 95,

Stone Free

-Parried Planet Waves’ meteors. (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Stone Ocean, Volume 71, Page 16,

Weaknesses

Jonathan’s Hamon requires breath and a proper bloodstream to be utilized properly. Should he be unable to breathe, his combat options will be far more limited. And though he is fairly clever and capable of quick thinking, Jonathan is also first and foremost a gentleman. Because of this, he tends to avoid being underhanded to quite the same extent as his successors, to the point that some of his strategies might seem rudimentary in comparison.