Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ (イエス・キリスト, Iesu Kirisuto), more commonly referred to as simply The Saint (聖人, Seijin), is a secondary character featured in the seventh part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Steel Ball Run.
He appears in proximity to the Saint's Corpse, which represents a symbol of purity.[3] He is heavily implied to represent the biblical and much-venerated Son of God in Christianity, Jesus, and is referred to as such once by Johnny Joestar.[4]
Appearance
He has long, dark hair and a body covered in scars. He appears either clean-shaven, with a mustache, or with a light beard.[4]
In his flashback, he wears a large linen robe. His face is unseen, obscured by the shadow of his hair or his robe.[2] In his later appearances, he wears a crown of thorns, and bears the Holy Wounds on his hands and feet (the only one not seen being his chest wound).
Color Schemes
Personality
Jesus is solemn and direct, inspiring awe in everyone he meets as a messiah. At times, Jesus makes his presence aware to people carrying parts of the Saint's Corpse, occasionally dispensing cryptic yet useful advice.[4]
Abilities
Divine Presence
Jesus is capable of appearing and speaking to certain individuals through the Saint's Corpse. Blackmore feels as if he was embraced by light.[5] Johnny claims that he can even hear his breathing and feel his body heat.[4]
Stand
Jesus's Corpse Parts occasionally merge with the analogous body parts of individuals coming into contact with them, upon which some develop unique powers or Stands.
Equivalent Exchange
In JoJolion, his corpse is described as having the power to cause the phenomenon of "removal," making it capable of performing an equivalent exchange. Thus, it could remove one's disease for something of comparable value.[6]
History
Background
Approximately 2000 years in the past, Jesus Christ inspires a new way of faith. However, society deems him too dangerous and sentences him to crucifixion[2] on the hill of Golgotha.[1]
Joseph of Arimathea brings his corpse down from the cross, cleaning his body to prepare for burial[1] and wrapping it in a linen cloth. Despite being medically impossible and having fatal wounds, Jesus revives and arises three days after his execution. Jesus thanks Joseph for treating his body with care and then states that he will travel to the east. When Joseph asks him about a future meeting, Jesus makes a map in the sand, showing Joseph nine locations.
Jesus then travels east across the continent, learning new languages and cultures, until he reaches the sea. Making a ship with the locals' help, he crosses the sea, arriving in a new land where he lives, ages, and eventually dies. Having formed a connection with the natives, they state that they "wish to see him again" prior to his death.
Shortly after his death, a great earthquake tears the ground apart, and a great storm rages, dividing his corpse into nine pieces. His corpse never rots, and the nine pieces travel further eastward due to the wind's movement, sand, animals, and natural events. They eventually end up in the nine locations on Joseph of Arimathea's map spanning North America. It is heavily implied that these pieces comprise what comes to be known as the Saint's Corpse.
In San Diego, a group of soldiers perishes during their training in a desert, but one of them survives and makes it back to civilization alive due to accidentally finding Jesus's heart, hidden beneath the sand. The young soldier eventually becomes president of the country. Believing it to be fate, he is motivated to find the rest of the body parts.[2]
Steel Ball Run
Initially, many believe that the Corpse Parts belongs to another saint. However, a few characters such as Blackmore have their suspicions that it is actually Jesus's.[5] For varied personal reasons, several characters in the SBR race seek to collect his Corpse Parts. Blackmore himself is the first to perceive the Jesus's presence. Awed and distracted by this revelation, he is then fatally shot by Lucy Steel.[5]
During his fight with Axl RO, Johnny receives advice from Jesus, helping him overcome the Stand Civil War; after which Funny Valentine steals all the Corpse Parts from Johnny and Gyro.[4]
Later, fleeing from Valentine, Lucy happens upon the stolen Parts and somehow becomes pregnant despite being a virgin, discovering the corpse's head in her womb and later developing a Stand.[7][8]
His corpse is eventually sealed in a vault below Trinity Church in New York City. The only ones aware of its existence and its location are Johnny, Lucy, Steven Steel, and a few others in the American government.[6][9]
JoJolion
Anguished by the terminal illness of his wife, Rina Higashikata, Johnny decides to retrieve the corpse from its vault and try to use its power to heal her. Johnny buries the corpse under the sacred Meditation Pine in Morioh, Japan.[6]
Government agents arrive to retrieve the corpse and presumably take it back to America. Ten years later, Lucy Steel arrives to Morioh holding a briefcase with the logo of the Speedwagon Oil Company. She notes that the ground of the burial site the corpse was in is similar to a Devil's Palm.[10]
Novels
JORGE JOESTAR
Dio, George Joestar II, and Jorge Joestar, all share a power known as Beyond (also called Trinity), implied to be God. Jorge sees Dio's Beyond behind him, appearing in the form of Jesus. He has long hair and his face hidden by a shadow unaffected by the direction of the sun. He is half-naked with a thin body covered in wounds and wears a crown of thorns on his head. Jorge says that Dio's Beyond actually looks a lot like Dio, with sad and kind eyes. Jesus states that Dio can either keep going, call off his attack, do anything he likes, or do nothing at all. Jorge hears the voice but assumes that Dio didn't hear it since he just kept screaming. For George and Jorge, their Beyond appears as Tsukumojuku Kato, who guides them to where they need to be.
Later, Dio's body separates into nine parts from his battle with Kars and then travels through universes with the power of Made in Heaven Ultimate Requiem. Due to the holes on the corpse's hands and feet, Funny Valentine and The Funniest Valentine assumed the wounds were stigmata on a holy man. However, they realize they were mistaken, as the wounds were caused by Dio on Jonathan Joestar's body during their final battle. Jonathan's hands had holes from Dio's Space Ripper Stingy Eyes, and his feet were impaled onto a stick of wood embedded on the side of Dio's coffin, allowing Dio to follow Erina Joestar who was sailing away atop the coffin.[11] Dio's head then travels to the vault under Trinity Church in the second universe to retrieve his body back. Jorge derails Dio's plans by placing Jonathan's head on top of the Corpse Parts, miraculously reviving Jonathan due to the power of his Beyond. Knowing that the conflict is over now, Jesus smiles and fades away.[12]
El Aleph
In Antigua, Guatemala, the civilians annually commemorate Jesus's last days during Semana Santa, which takes place before Easter. Statues of Jesus and Mary are placed on floats which are paraded down the streets of the city.
Around the mid 1960s, Octavio Luna Kan awakens his Stand ability while he is feeling lonely at the Cerro de la Cruz, creating Joaquín Ruiz-Jorruda to be his friend.[13][14]
Prior to November 1972, Fabio Ubuh begins destroying religious statues and crosses throughout Antigua's churches and monasteries.[15] Fabio was forced to convert to Catholicism when he was a child to receive his elementary education. However, his family and other Indigenous Peoples still secretly held onto their K'iche' faith. When Fabio's family members were executed despite all their prayers, Fabio began hating the Christian symbols filling the city, such as the churches built atop sacred Maya sites.[16] In addition to vandalizing churches, Fabio also murders Christian believers whenever a holy day approaches, killing 27 victims in total.[15]
At night on April 20, 1973, the largest statue of Jesus depicting him carrying the cross to the hill of Golgotha is brought to Catedral San José at the end of the parade. However, Fabio destroys the cross with El Señor de las Moscas, making it look as if it exploded.[15]
Chapters
Manga Appearances- Steel Ball Run Chapter 25: Tusk, Part 1 (Flashback)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 38: Catch the Rainbow (On a Stormy Night...), Part 1
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 45: The Promised Land: Sugar Mountain, Part 1 (Flashback)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 58: Civil War, Part 3
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 59: A Dream of Gettysburg (Flashback)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 61: Both Sides Now, Part 2 (Mentioned)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 62: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Mentioned)
- Steel Ball Run Chapter 67: D4C, Part 2 (Flashback)
Quotes
Quotes- “I will go East. (これから東へ行く)”
- “Everything is circular... If it rotates... (「物事は円」―――「回転したならば」―――)”—Jesus Christ to Joseph of Arimathea, Steel Ball Run Chapter 67: D4C, Part 2
- “If your heart is wavering... Johnny Joestar. Do not shoot. (こころが迷ったなら……ジョニィ・ジョースター…撃つのはやめなさい)”
- “Listen well... If your heart is wavering... then do not shoot. Because then, the door to a new path will be open to you... (よいな…心が迷ったらだ……撃つのはやめなさい。「新しい道」への扉が開かれるだろう…)”
- “If your heart is wavering... Do not shoot. You will grow... Once more shall the gates leading to a new path open for you. (心が迷ったなら 撃つのはやめなさい成長するのだ …………再び「新しい道」への扉が開かれるだろう。)”
- “If your heart is wavering, Johnny Joestar... Do not shoot. You will never find the 'new path' that way. (心が迷っているならジョニィ・ジョースター…撃つのはやめなさい。決して『新しい道』は開かれない)”
- “If you're wavering, Johnny... Then do not shoot. (迷ったならジョニィ…撃つてはならない)”
Gallery
Jesus revived, showing his stigmata
Drawing a map for Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph witnesses Jesus departing the tomb
Staying with the natives before his death
Blackmore perceives Jesus
Jesus appears behind Johnny
"If your heart is wavering, do not shoot."
Last advice for Johnny
SBR Chapter 25 Cover A
SBR Chapter 25 Magazine Cover
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Steel Ball Run Chapter 25: Tusk, Part 1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Steel Ball Run Chapter 67: D4C, Part 2
- ↑ Author's Note, Steel Ball Run Volume 24
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Steel Ball Run Chapter 58: Civil War, Part 3
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Steel Ball Run Chapter 38: Catch the Rainbow (On a Stormy Night...), Part 1
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 JoJolion Chapter 22: Morioh 1901
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 62: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 71: Ticket to Ride, Part 1
- ↑ Steel Ball Run Chapter 95: The World of Stars and Stripes - Outro
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 99: The Wonder of You, Part 16
- ↑ JORGE JOESTAR Chapter 5: Box
- ↑ JORGE JOESTAR Chapter 16: Beyond II
- ↑ El Aleph Chapter 5: V - Peru Arc
- ↑ El Aleph Chapter 19: XIX - Final Arc
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 El Aleph Chapter 1: I - Guatemala Arc
- ↑ El Aleph Chapter 2: II - Guatemala Arc
