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The undead are hard to kill, it’s part of the whole gimmick, it seems. What’s worse, they can survive for way longer than humans can so it often ends up the responsibility of new generations to carry on what their ancestors started. Jotaro Kujo is caught up in his family’s legacy to stop an evil vampire that was believed long dead. So who is this young man that makes him the right one for the job? Let’s find out!

Jotaro Kujo is the grandson of Joseph Joestar and the great, great grandson of Jonathan Joestar. Joseph’s daughter, Holy, would fall in love with a Japanese jazz musician and move to Japan, get married, then give birth to a son, Jotaro Kujo. While his father was often out of the picture, touring around the world as a musician, Jotaro would cherish his mother and grow up to become a violent delinquent.

By the time he was seventeen, Jotaro was a tall, strong individual able to fight. During one fight, he felt he was too powerful. Instead of losing to such a large gang, he handled them with ease and noticed there was some creature helping him. Believing he was possessed by a demon, he turned himself into the police, worried what he could do with such power. While his mother and the police believed he was delusional, they couldn’t ignore his ability to move objects without touching them, things he claimed were being done by the demon that only he could see.

Holy would call her father, who had plenty of dealings with strange phenomenon, to help her son. Joseph was the right person to call, he had brought along with him a good friend and expert in culture and mysterious powers, Muhammed Avdol. The two men knew immediately that Jotaro was not possessed, but a Stand user. Stands, named so because the entities tend to stand next to their users, are psychic manifestations based on one’s fighting spirit, granting the user powers beyond mortals. Jotaro’s was given the name Star Platinum and seemed to be capable of great strength, speed, and durability.

Joseph and Avdol revealed they too, were Stand users, each with their own unique Stands and able to see one another’s while those who have no Stands see nothing but the effects of the Stands. Hence, Jotaro’s Star Platinum moving things looks only like objects moving on their own. Joseph had theorized that the Joestar family had gotten their Stands because his own power had revealed to him the return of Dio, the vampire who had killed Jonathan Joestar through a heroic sacrifice that was believed to destroy Dio as well. Dio had survived by fusing his severed head onto the corpse of Jonathan Joestar, binding his bloodline to theirs. When he had found a way to unlock his Stand, so had the rest of the Joestar line. Since Stands are based off fighting spirit but not everyone is built to fight, Holy was overwhelmed by her Stand, slowly killing her. To destroy a Stand is to kill the user so the trio hoped that by destroying Dio, whatever was causing their Stands to manifest would die with him, thus saving Holy.

Dio had now set up his new seat of power in Egypt so their goal was set and the destination found. The only thing left to do was get to Egypt from Japan and defeat Dio once and for all. Unfortunately, it seemed Dio was aware of their plan due to his own ties to the Joestars and had sent out dozens and dozens of Stand-using assassins to take them out. Jotaro and crew would have to find their way to Egypt anyway they could, making allies and enemies along the way. The road to saving not just Holy, but the world itself, from Dio was about to begin.

There you have it! One of the most iconic and popular JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure journeys. Jotaro is usually the JoJo many people first think of when they hear the name. He’s also the second most recurring character in the series behind his grandpa, Joseph. This spotlight is just the beginning of his adventure so as to not spoil anything if you choose to read or watch Stardust Crusaders. If you want to give a JoJo series a try but find going through all of them too daunting, this is a good start! See you next time!

Suggested Reading
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net