Joestar Family

"I can tell since I watched those three men who carried the blood of the Joestar Family in their veins back in Morioh. The three of them emanate righteousness from their hearts as if it gave them energy..."

- Koichi Hirose,

The Joestar Family (ジョースター家) is an extensive clan of characters featured prominently in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, of which each of the protagonists of the series is a member. Dating back to English aristocracy, the Joestar Family would become involved in the supernatural, resulting in a rippling impact affecting generations to come.

Summary
The Joestar family has had a rich history and each of its members have had wildly different lives from each others. One of their key features are a star-shaped birthmark above their left shoulder blade, a feature that was hijacked by Dio Brando when he stole Jonathan's body.

They began as a noble and well-off family of British society, residing in a luxurious mansion in England, thanks to George I's trading business. However, his son, Jonathan, burned down the mansion in an effort to slay the vampirised Dio Brando, and the family has lived elsewhere since then, their homes occupying different countries depending on the generation. The family has also abandoned its roots in nobility notwithstanding most of the descendants having prominent occupations. The Joestar line originates from England, however, its members became more diversified with time, starting with Joseph marrying and having children with Italian and Japanese women. This trend has continued with his descendants, such as Joseph marrying Suzi Q and moving to America, Holy marrying a Japanese man and then living in Japan, as well as Jotaro marrying an American woman and going to live in the United States. Thus the Joestar Family are also connected to Italy, Japan, and the United States.

The family's archenemy is Dio Brando, his evilness, immortality, and worldwide influence leading to the Joestars battling the vampire and his followers for the majority of their recent history. Due to the exceptional circumstances of Dio Brando stealing Jonathan's body, the Brando Family is deeply connected to the Joestars, and several members can be considered to be both children of Jonathan and Dio in a way (as well as other women).

The Joestar family is considerably connected to the supernatural, several of its members meeting with supernatural creatures and combating fantastical threats with varying degrees of willingness. The family's earlier members can count among them a high number of Ripple users, but Joseph was their final representative. Afterwards, each of the Joestars became a Stand user, all blessed with potent Stand abilities.

Although the family's members are largely referred to as the Joestars, the family name itself died out early in the series with Joseph, his children having taken different names such as "Kujo" and "Cujoh". The high number of bastards in the family also results in names such as "Higashikata" or "Giovanna". The most prominent members of the family throughout the generations have had a tendency to have alliterative names, earning them the shared moniker of "JoJo".

Second Continuity
In the second continuity introduced in Steel Ball Run, the Joestar Family's root in British nobility are represented, with an emphasis on a horseriding tradition, the Joestars counting several famous and gifted jockeys among them during the 19th century. Their connection to the United States is also reinforced by making Johnny Joestar living in the country for a long period of time. However, the tradition also died out with Johnny marrying Rina Higashikata, tying the Higashikata Family distantly to the Joestar family.

With Johnny going to live in Japan, the family name also eventually died out and its members became primarily Japanese. Holy Joestar married into the Kira family, and due to other exceptional circumstances, the latest Joestar, Josuke, is part Kira, part Kujo and is adopted within the Higashikata Family.

The history of the Joestar Family in the second continuity is much less detailed, the story skipping from 1890 to 2011 without exploring whatever happened to the members living in-between.

The Joestars retain their link with the supernatural, with Johnny becoming a Spin and a Stand User, and his descendants being Stand Users as well.

37th Universe
In the light novel JORGE JOESTAR, the 37th universe also has a Joestar family which has a few similarities to the original universe but with divergences. The Joestar family is English, but England does not exist in this universe. A group of living in Maine in the 19th century had declared independence, calling themselves the Kingdom of England. Despite fighting in a war, the American government never officially recognized them.

The Joestars lived on a large farmland while they were in America. They were titled aristocrats, wealthy even by the standards of English citizens.

The group of citizens living in the Kingdom of England eventually collapsed from within, leading to several English families having to scatter across the world due to losing their country. The Joestar family ends up moving to Japan. Including the Joestar family, these English families had to adopt in order to keep thriving, leading to Jonda Joestar adopting Jorge Joestar.

Trivia

 * Many members of the Joestar family, starting with Mary, had lived tragically short lives due to fatal encounters with supernatural foes.