George Joestar II
George Joestar II (ジョージ・ジョースターⅡ世, Jōji Jōsutā Nisei) is a tertiary character featured in the seventh part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Steel Ball Run.
George is the father of Johnny Joestar and Nicholas Joestar, the former with whom he maintains a difficult relationship. He is a horse breeder by trade.
Appearance
George Joestar is a mature man of average height who is slightly overweight. He has a double chin and several wrinkles. In the past, he has short, dark hair that is styled neatly, along with a mustache and long sideburns. His hairline is receding and the hair on the top of his head is combed to one side, creating a side parting. A single, wavy lock swoops down onto his forehead. Over time, his hair grays with age. In his final appearance, he has a visible widow's peak and no longer has the lock over his forehead or the side parting. Instead, his hair has a rounded, bushy appearance, sticking out on the sides. His face also has more wrinkles compared to before.
In his first appearance, George wore a dark top hat and suit. While having dinner with his family, he wears a dark single-breasted suit with notched lapels on top of a light dress shirt with a dark tie. When he's outside caring for Nicholas's horse, he wears sunglasses with small circle lenses. When arguing with Johnny about Nicholas's boots, his outfit consists of a dark vest over a light, collared dress shirt, and light pants. In his final appearance, George wears a dark duffel coat with horseshoe shaped accessories on top of a light turtleneck sweater.
Color Schemes
Personality
George is an acclaimed horse trainer. He is a strict father, not only forbidding a young Johnny from bringing an adopted mouse to the table while they're eating, but then ordering that the mouse is shown to him and then drowned. Since he is mindful of his reputation among the British, George is particularly severe when it comes to gentlemanly manners.
George shows favoritism toward his eldest son. Upon Nicholas's death, George becomes extremely sad and bitter.[1] According to Johnny, George would spend the next seven years reminiscing about Nicholas's immense talents while downplaying Johnny's own achievements. He is adamant about not letting Johnny use Nicholas's riding boots, blaming Johnny for not taking care of his own boots. He also believes Johnny can't beat Diego Brando but that Nicholas could.[1]
George ultimately changes his mind over time, regretting how he treated his son. Crying seeing how much Johnny has achieved, he meets with his son again in New York during the final stage of the Steel Ball Run, waving Nicholas's boots as a silent gesture of reconciliation. Finally, he publicly declares his shame over letting his son suffer and that he is proud of his achievement of having crossed the United States.[2]
History
Background
George Joestar II was born in a family with ties to the aristocracy which fell on hard times. However, George himself was famous and rich as a horse racer and then breeder, having won the Triple Crown seven times and owning several farms with the facilities to breed racing horses. Although he settled in Danville, Kentucky, he made journeys to England with his family.[1]
When Johnny was five and first rode a horse, George declared that his son was a genius. However, the rest of Johnny's childhood was marked by a strained relationship as George was unnecessarily severe and overtly favored Nicholas. After Nicholas's death, Johnny sought to use his old riding boots, but George saw him in Nicholas's room and refused to hand them over and "insult Nicholas's memory". He forbid Johnny from touching them and tried to take them by force while berating his son's achievements. Johnny argued that he needed the boots and pushed him away, causing George to fall onto a glass cabinet and injure his neck from its shards. In shock, he declared that God took the wrong son, disavowing Johnny and breaking his heart.[1]
George would then disappear from Johnny's life, not even deigning visiting him when his spine was broken.[3]
Steel Ball Run
High Voltage
When the final stage of the Steel Ball Run race begins in New York, George pushes through a crowd to reconcile with Johnny. A father angrily grabs his collar for hurting his daughter by pushing her. Johnny manages to see George, causing George to tremble and shed tears. He presents Nicholas's riding boots to him, surprising Johnny. George then speaks to the surrounding crowd with passion, confessing his mistreatment of his son. He goes on to mention his current pride regarding Johnny’s ability to traverse the entire continent. This results in an applause from the crowd while George continues crying and Johnny rides onwards.[2]
Chapters
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 3: Johnny Joestar (Flashback)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 42: Silent Way, Part 3 (Flashback)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 57: Civil War, Part 2 (Flashback)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 58: Civil War, Part 3 (Civil War's ability)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 79: D4C, Part 12 -Love Train- (Flashback)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 88: Break My Heart, Break Your Heart, Part 1 (Flashback)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 89: Break My Heart, Break Your Heart, Part 2 (Flashback)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 91: High Voltage, Part 2
- JoJolion Chapter 11: Family Tree (Mentioned only)
Quotes
- “Listen, Jonathan. Not limited to dining, manners are an indication of reverence towards the people around you. Englishmen especially value table manners. Do you want everybody to think that we are a group of uneducated, uncultured American countrymen?”—George Joestar, Steel Ball Run Chapter 42: Silent Way, Part 3
- “Win? That's strange, winning means you'll be number one. Dio won't be running in today's race. Even if you win, can that really be considered a victory...? Don't get so cocky. You've never even beaten Dio, have you?”—George Joestar, Steel Ball Run Chapter 42: Silent Way, Part 3
- “God, you took the wrong son… (神よあなたは連れて行く子供を間違えた…, Kami yo… anata wa… tsureteiku kodomo o machigaeta……)”—George Joestar, Steel Ball Run Chapter 42: Silent Way, Part 3
- “I’ve come here because I’ve treated my own child horribly for years and years. And the whole time up until now, I never realized that cruelty. I know that apologizing isn’t enough to make up for scarring my child’s heart. But that… is something I finally now have come to realize. My child’s name is Johnny Joestar. He crossed from the far-off West coast all the way across the continent. All by himself. And now! Here! He’s finally made it to New York…”—George Joestar, Steel Ball Run Chapter 91: High Voltage, Part 2
Gallery
Trivia
- George was initially unnamed in Steel Ball Run. In JoJolion, he was given the name George Joestar (ジョージ・ジョースター, Jōji Jōsutā) on the family tree;[4] however, his name was retroactively changed to "George Joestar II" on later versions of the family tree due to Johnny Joestar's son being named "George Joestar III."[5][6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Steel Ball Run Chapter 42: Silent Way, Part 3
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Steel Ball Run Chapter 91: High Voltage, Part 2
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 3: Johnny Joestar
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 11: Family Tree
- ↑ Ripples of Adventure - Family Tree
- ↑ JOJO's Bizarre Quizzes 500 - Family Tree