Dio Brando/fr

"Inutile, inutile !!! (無駄 無駄!!!)"

- Cri de combat de Dio Brando,

Dio Brando (ディオ・ブランドー), aussi nommé DIO, est l'antagoniste principal de la première et troisième parties de JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood et Stardust Crusaders, et un personnage posthume mais essentiel dans la sixième partie, Stone Ocean. Son influence au travers des six premières parties de la série avec des personnages majeurs comme Giorno Giovanna et Enrico Pucci étant connecté à lui.

Dio est un homme né dans la misère mais doué d'une ambition sans égale. Il est un méchant sans conscience, très rusé et désirant le pouvoir à tout prix. Il devient un Vampire puis un manieur de Stand et rassemble autour de lui des dizaines de servants. Il est responsable de nombreux évènements majeurs de la série comme la mort de Jonathan Joestar et le fait que la Famille Joestar devienne des manieurs de Stand. Son héritage persiste tout le long de la série.

Dio est le premier antagoniste principal de JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Il est aussi le père de of Giorno, le protagoniste de Vento Aureo ainsi qu'une poignée d'enfants illégitimes.

Enfance
Alors qu'il arrive au Manoir Joestar, Dio porte une tenue typique d'un jeune garçon aisé de l'époque: un manteau bleu, une chemise blanche, une cravate, des bretelles, des hauts-de-chausses et une paire de chaussettes rayés. Il a des cheveux blonds et un beau visage. Il a trois grains de beauté sur son oreille gauche.

Adulte
La tenue de Dio ne change pas trop mais il remplace son manteau avec une veste. Il grandit beaucoup et prend du muscle. Alors que Jonathan part trouver un antidote pour la maladie de son père, Dio porte un haut-de-forme et une cape bordée de plumes au niveau du col.

Vampire
Dio change drastiquement au niveau physique lorsqu'il utilise le masque de pierre et se transforme en Vampire. Ses yeux deviennent s'affinent et prennent un contour sombre, il développe des crocs de Vampire et il a les cheveux en bataille.

Il change de tenue après son premier combat formel contre Jonathan. Il porte alors un haut orné à deux couleurs avec un pantalon appareillé, une paire de bottes, des canons d'avant-bras et des bretelles attachées à une ceinture autour de la taille. Il acquiert aussi une écharpe.

Caché
Le visage de DIO reste caché dûe à l'obscurité de son manoir. Il a une coiffure en nuque longue descendant aux épaules. DIO demeure sans haut, exposant la musculature de Jonathan. Il porte un pantalon, plusiers bracelets métalliques à chaque poignée, des babouches en métal, et des protège-genoux en forme de coeur. Dans le jeu JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future, sa voice est aussi distordue. Cette forme de DIO est aussi nommée "DIO, le mal incarné".

Révélé
Au dessus de sa tenue précédente, DIO acquiert un débardeur moulant et une veste. Son pantalon change, devenant ouvert au niveau de l'entrejambe. Il porte aussi une ceinture décorés avec un coeur et deux bandes de tissu sur les côtés. Son visage est révélé et il porte un bandeau au front décoré avec un coeur comme ses protège-genoux. Ceci est son apparence au début de l'arc Le Monde de DIO.

Il porte un collier couvrant sa cicatrice au cou mais l'abandonne après avoir confronté Polnareff une première fois.

Lorsqu'il poursuit les héros, DIO porte une cape qu'il jette durant sa confrontation avec Kakyoin.

Forme Finale
DIO approche son apogée physique après avoir sucé le sang de Joseph Joestar. Il abandonne sa veste et le bandeau a été détruit par Star Platinum. Ses cheveux racourçissent et sont désormais coiffés en pics, ses lèvres sont plus sombres comme s'il portait du rouge à lèvre. Il a aussi une allure plus meurtrière. Ceçi est son apparance durant la second moitié de l'arc Le Monde de DIO.

Personnalité
Dio a une personalité ambitieuse, manipulative et dominatrice, et il montre souvent qu'il n'a pas de conscience ou d'empathie.

Les caractéristiques principales de Dio sont son ambition sans limite et son amour du pouvoir. Abusé par son père et ayant vécu dans la misère durant sa jeunesse, Dio s'est fixé comme but de devenir l'homme le plus riche puis le plus puissant sur Terre. Pour celà, Dio a usé de tous les moyens pour atteindre ses objectifs, même les plus ignobles. Dio cherche constamment a aggrandir son pouvoir en manipulant, séduisant et souvent en tuant ceux sur son chemin. Dio aime être dans une position dominante et a souvent répété à quel point il adorait être en position de pouvoir. De plus, Dio ne tolérait jamais qu'on puisse lui tenir tête ou égaler sa puissance, et était enragé et profondément perturbé par ces éventualités à plusieurs reprises.

Durant toute sa vie, Dio avait tendance à s'entourer de sbires stupides et de servants attirés par son charisme naturel. Ne pensant pas grand chose d'eux initialement, il a ensuite sélectionné ceux qu'il voyait comme étant particulièrement mauvais, expliquant qu'une personne maléfique n'était pas liée par des règles comme l'honneur et était donc mentalement plus fort, faisant d'elles des servants plus puissants. Cette croyance a culminé dans son rituel pour absorber les âmes de 36 pécheurs (ou âmes particulièrement puissantes) et débloquer un pouvoir plus puissant que celui de The World.

Dio est naturellement incroyablement égoiste, ne regarde que ses propres intérêts. Au mieux il ignore ceux des autres ou les écrase au pire. Dio manipule volontier son entourage pour prendre ce qu'il peut des autres. Il utilise n'importe quelle méthode comme la séduction ou parfois l'intimidation, du moment que sa cible remplit ses désirs. Dio est incapable d'aimer complètement une autre personne car il est intéréssé par ce que les autres peuvent lui apporter. Les seuls personnes par lesquelles on peut dire que Dio a apprécié sont sa mère, Jonathan Joestar et Enrico Pucci. Dio a reconnu Jonathan comme son égal et a développé une certaine amitié avec Pucci. Cependant, Dio a tout de même cherché a voler le corps de Jonathan pour se l'approprier et son amitié avec Pucci a été formé dans le cadre d'un plan qui devait le bénéficier et lui donner encore plus de pouvoir. Lorsqu'il interagit avec quelqu'un, Dio va constamment les manipuler et essayer de les faire basculer de son côté. Il apparait comme un individu doux à la surface et use de ses charmes et son charisme naturel pour se faire admirer et aimer. Par exemple il a feint d'être un fils modèle et un camarade charismatique auprès du père et de l'entourage de Jonathan pour isoler celui-ci. En tant que Vampire, son charisme n'a fait qu'augmenter, jouant de son aspect d'individu charmant et mystérieux. Son arrogance l'a aussi souvent poussé à rabaisser et insulter ses enemies, et il dévalorise souvent la force des ses enemies comparée à ses pouvoirs de Vampire et son Stand.

Dio engage les obstacles et les problème de diverses façon dépendant de son humeur. Alors qu'il était humain, Dio était plus prudent et méthodique en essayant d'harceler Jonathan et a empoisonné George durant une longue période avec un poison lent. Son plan a été déjoué par pure chance lorsque Jonathan a découvert une lettre incriminante. En tant que Vampire, Dio va initialement se laisser emporter par son arrogance et laisse faire ses servants, les envoyant simplement au devant des héros dans l'espoir de le tuer alors qu'il se repose et rassemble ses forces. Sa défaite auprès de Jonathan l'a enseigné à être prudent par rapport à la famille Joestar. Par conséquence il a décidé de prendre Jonathan par surprise, et durant "Stardust Crusaders", il a envoyé ses mignons non pas pour assassiner les Joestars mais pour les délayer autant que possible pour qu'il puisse recouvrir ses forces. Durant son combat final, sa prudence, son habilité tactique et son arrogance firent en sorte que DIO alternait entre une approche méticuleuse et des assauts présomptueux.

Part 1 - Phantom Blood
"Je rejette mon humanité! JoJo! Je vais surpasser le genre humain! (おれは人間をやめるぞ！ジョジョーーッ!!おれは人間を超越するッ！)"

- Dio à Jonathan, avant d'utiliser le Masque de Pierre,

Dans Phantom Blood, Dio est ambitieux, égocentrique, arrogant, mégalomaniaque et impitoyable, étant capable du pire pour atteindre ses objectifs. La cruauté naturelle de Dio est montrée tôt dans l'histoire lorsque qu'il prévoit d'exploiter la famille Joestar alors qu'ils étaient assez généreux pour l'adopter et lui offrir la vie d'un jeune noble. Pour améliorer sa position et remplacer Jonathan Joestar pour avoir l'héritage de la famille, Dio a utilisé les moyens les plus sournois pour briser le jeune Jonathan. Ses méthodes par exemple étaient d'humilier Jonathan à la boxe en public, l'ostraciser de ses amis et aussi voler le premier baiser d'Erina Pendleton pour la séparer de Jonathan. Quand ses plans sont déjoué, Dio a opté d'empoisonner lentemen George Joestar I et de tuer Jonathan avec le masque de pierre pour faire croire à des morts naturelles/accidentelles. Dio montra alors une certaine détermination à atteindre ses buts et ne perdit jamais sa volonté malgré les défaites qu'il subissait durant Phantom Blood, faisant en sorte de toujours trouver un moyen de se venger de Jonathan.

La manque d'empathie de Dio est aussi apparent puisqu'il a toujours vue les Joestars comme des obstacles malgré avoir vécu sous leur toit et interagit avec leurs amabilité pendant plusieurs années; il est aussi sous-entendu qu'il a une dent contre la classe aisée qu'il fréquente. Dio a maintenue une façade d'homme charmant et agréable avec tous sauf Jonathan, mais ne s'est jamais rapproché de personne. A la fin de la partie, le seul homme que Dio appréciait était Jonathan lui-même, reconnaissant avec réticence sa valeur en tant qu'ennemi juré et ayant décidé de lui "donner une mort sans douleur" alors qu'il planifie de l'assassiner et de voler son corps, ayant même été choqué par la mort de Jonathan. Etant heureux d'être devenu un puissant vampire, Dio passe son temps au comobat à narguer divers humains à propos de leur faiblesses et les considérait comme des insectes face aux Vampires. Le sadisme de Dio l'a poussé a changer une mère en Zombie juste pour la regarder dévorer son bébé. S'il est en position de pouvoir, il tend à tourmenter ses victimes. Par exemple, il a poussé son pousse dans l'oeil de Jonathan au milieu d'un coup de poing juste pour le faire souffrir. Dio est très violent et ne se restreint jamais dans sa colère, étant sujet à des emportements meurtriers même durant sa jeunesse, ayant essayé de poignarder Jonathan après s'être fait battre et ayant violemment giflé Erina dans un coup de colère. Il était aussi très cruel par rapport à Danny, le chien de Johnathan. Durant leur première rencontre il a violemment donné un coup de genoux à la face du chien. Lorsque Jonathan a battu Dio, celui-ci a secrètement fait en sorte que Danny soit incinéré. Il est enragé lorsque quelqu'un lui tient tête et c'est la cause principale de ses colères. Dio lui_même a reconnu que son tempérament était une faiblesse mais n'a jamais pu vraiment se maîtriser durant sa vie.

La personnalité de Dio pourrait être expliquée par son enfance dans la misère et sa relation abusive avec son père Dario Brando. Cependant Speedwagon a rejeté cette idée et dit que la pauvreté n'avoir rien à voir avec son caractère. De fait, Dio était tel qu'il a ouvertement rejeté son humanité pour devenir Vampire alors qu'il allait être arrêté par la police. . Il échange sa sournoiserie pour un caractère plus arrogant et hédoniste qui dénigre les humains et se complait dans le mal. Dio respecte cependant la détermination et a reconnu que la détermination de Jonathan était égal au sien, ce qui lui l'"honneur" de servir en tant que nouvel hôte pour sa tête coupée.

Le potentiel de Dio pour la sympathie est sous-entendu dans l'histoire lorsqu'il empoisonne son père pour venger l'abus que sa mère a subit.

Dio hait les chiens, les considérant comme de la vermine.

Part 3 - Stardust Crusaders
"Everyone survives in pursuit of peace of mind. ... Aren't you uneasy, preparing to fight me, knowing you may die? ... If you join me, I will give you peace of mind that will last forever."

- DIO to Polnareff,

Reappearing in Stardust Crusaders, DIO did not change much since his burial at the bottom of the ocean for one hundred years, as he remained a remorseless and murderous megalomaniac, but nonetheless he had matured a little by recognizing valor in others and being generally more calm and level-headed. DIO does not appear frequently in Stardust Crusaders except towards the end, but is seen discussing various philosophies with Stand users he wishes to recruit, and with his already-loyal followers, particularly Enya the Hag who serves as his main adviser. It seems equally likely that DIO does this to manipulate and persuade as that he believes what he says, but nonetheless acknowledges the power and valor simple humans can have, notably respecting one's willingness to die for his goal. Wishing to quickly dispose of the Joestars, he listened to Enya and was told that she'd already sent agents to deal with them, and quietly rested in his mansion to gain more strength. Furthermore, DIO learned his lesson and stops underestimating his opponents, being particularly careful around the Joestar bloodline. He nonetheless sneered at other Stand Users' efforts to fight him, most notably Kakyoin's, whose discovery ended up being crucial in his defeat.

This time, DIO is far more calm and collected. Maybe due to knowing that his Stand The World is far above anyone's reach, DIO is more tolerant of people resisting him, and didn't react to Polnareff's taunts and insults. He even seems to appreciate Hol Horse's insubordination, which confirms the mercenary's strength, and let him go try to assassinate Jotaro. However, DIO is still callous about human life and killed anyone who would fail him, even Enya—who was, again, his closest adviser. The usually confident and cunning gambler Daniel D'Arby was driven to madness when he couldn't handle the pressure of possibly revealing DIO's Stand ability to Jotaro. True to himself, DIO is enjoying the fact that he is wielding the most powerful Stand in his organization, being unconcerned by the heroes' effort to discover his power as he thinks they are meaningless. When Jotaro reveals himself to be able to move within the stopped time, DIO is initially very distraught but recomposes himself quickly, devising other plans to get rid of Jotaro by exploiting his advantage. The full scale of his insanity is visible when, overjoyed to have completely fused with Jonathan's body and being at full power, DIO declares that he was experiencing "the greatest high" and delightfully drills his index finger into his skull.

Dio's final speech exposes that he is still willing to use any way to win and despises any concept of honor or revenge, ultimately using a cheap trick to blind Jotaro momentarily. However, this was all for naught since Dio would ultimately meet retribution by dying at Jotaro's hand.

Part 6 - Stone Ocean
"Beyond the powers of my Stand is where you need to go in order to find Heaven. What you need is a trustworthy friend. Will I, DIO, be able to meet someone like this one day?"

- DIO's Diary

In flashbacks placed before the events of Part 3, DIO demonstrates a burgeoning ability to be genuinely nice to another person in numerous conversations with Enrico Pucci. Intrigued by Pucci, who let him be despite suspiciously hiding in a church, DIO healed his crooked foot, a kind gesture, and gave him the head of an Arrow, which would grant him his own Stand, Whitesnake. During these flashbacks, DIO is able to open up with him on multiple subjects, and confiding to Pucci that the priest could make him be at peace. Once daring Pucci to steal his Stand, to Pucci's refusal, DIO thanked him for his fidelity, and even admitted that he feared the thought of Pucci betraying him.

It is debatable how good a friend DIO truly was, considering Pucci's good-willed nature during his youth directly opposing his later evilness and zealotry. DIO also seems to have built that friendship to further his ambitions, which calls into question how sincere it was. It is implied that he wanted to use his Stand to create a perfect world for himself and a handful of subordinates. He enlisted Pucci as his living "conscience", in case he would go crazy and veer "off track".

Over Heaven
(The information below derives from a Light Novel not written by Araki. As such, it may or may not be considered .)

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Over Heaven offers an interpretation of Dio Brando's character by mixing elements present in the original material and plot points introduced by the light novel, which serves to be the real-life interpretation of DIO's Diary.

In the novel, DIO has seemingly matured past his megalomania and, due to his mother's kindness and influence on him during his younger years, developed an extreme fixation on the concept of 'heaven' - an idea he revisits when he becomes embroiled in the world of Stands. After discovering the power human souls possess, as well as the possibility that these souls can be harnessed and controlled for one's benefit, DIO tries to devise a plan to use Stand power and human souls to bring about his idea of heaven.

Apparently, all throughout the events of Stardust Crusaders, DIO had been holding meetings with Enrico Pucci as well as devising ways on how to go to heaven. He then comes to the conclusion that in order to achieve true victory and witness heaven, DIO must guide Pucci to heaven, and not the other way around. Spliced between these events are all sorts of entries, such as memories of his past life as a human and later on a Vampire, the intricacies of the Stone Mask, his musings about the generational feud between him and the Joestar Family, the life his parents had in the slums of London, him interacting with his organization, and various philosophical matters.

For what it was worth, DIO appears to have genuinely cared about Enrico Pucci, and even more so about his plan to go to heaven, stating outright that he would sacrifice his organization, his vampiric abilities, his stand, everything - just to achieve his goal of creating his heaven on earth.

Abilities
"Invulnerability! Eternal life! Stand power! Here lies the proof that none shall surpass the mighty DIO!"

- DIO,

DIO is one of the most powerful characters of the series. As a human, he was already brilliant but over time he's managed to acquire several powers, becoming a Vampire and then a Stand User.

Stand
DIO's Stand is The World; a close-ranged Stand with comparable, if not superior strength and speed against Jotaro Kujo's Star Platinum.

About a year after gaining his Stand, DIO discovered it's signature ability of stopping time. At first, he could only do this for a very short amount of time, but by the end of Part 3, he is able to stop time for a maximum of 9 seconds. This duration would have continued to increase, had DIO not been defeated. When stopping time, DIO gives the impression that he is teleporting or otherwise moving at impossible speeds.

The ability is best known for DIO's activation and cancellation phrases THE WORLD, Time, stop! (! 時よ止まれ!) and Time resumes. (時は動き出す).

Having had ample time to rest and train with The World, DIO is shown to have been thorough in exploring his Stand's abilities. Case in point, it was during an experimental session during which DIO sought to test the limit of The World's speed that he discovered his time stop ability.

To give himself an advantage, DIO has tried to keep the ability of The World a secret, only using it at key moments to psych out an opponent and perform incomprehensible sneak attacks, as well as only trusting its secret to a few confidants such as Enya the Hag and not hesitating to eliminate her as soon as she remotely risked to inform the Joestars of his timestop power. However, as soon as they understood its ability, DIO dropped the secret and showed a great degree of confidence about the supremacy of his power, ultimately not caring about his secret as he was convinced that no one could do anything about it. Thus, he began to liberally stop time against Jotaro. Thanks to the free time-frame of action granted by The World, DIO has made it possible to instantly reposition himself to avoid attacks or set himself up to attack, kill enemies instantly, or even displace his opponents to toy with them.

DIO has shown a high degree of control over The World, using it to battle Jotaro's Star Platinum to a standstill, but showing superior technique in hand to hand combat by using low kicks to unbalance Star Platinum or feints to out-punch Star Platinum. However, his Vampire constitution means that DIO never showed the same care at using The World defensively at he preferred to avoid being hit at all and regenerate by sucking blood.

Unlike every other enemy Stand User in Stardust Crusaders, DIO actively sought to improve his Stand's capabilities. He notably wanted the Joestar Group to come to him so that he could suck the blood of a Joestar and sync himself up with Jonathan's body to bolster his powers further. Araki himself has stated that DIO had the potential to stop time indefinitely.

Moreover, DIO had searched a way to unlock a power even more powerful than The World, using esoteric knowledge to divine a plan to create another mightier Stand.

Joestar Stand
Due to the Arrow awakening a stand ability Jonathan Joestar's body in addition to DIO himself, DIO is capable of using a Hermit Purple-like Stand which allows him to create psychic images, be it on photographs or crystal balls. Due to the connection he has between Jonathan's body and his descendants, DIO is also able to sense the presence of other Joestars and can use this to track their position. He is even able to tell when Joseph uses Hermit Purple to take a psychic photograph of him, and instinctively knew that his acquisition of a Stand also awoke Stand abilities in Jonathan's descendants.

Vampiric Abilities
Becoming a Vampire as a young adult, Dio Brando displays a broad range of fantastic, supernatural abilities; explained as expressions of the full, unbound potential of the human body.


 * Superhuman Strength: Dio attains massive strength as a Vampire, allowing him feats such as forcibly walking on walls and single-handedly deflecting attacks such as Hierophant Green's Emerald Splash (volleys of substantially-sized emeralds flying at almost bullet speed). After absorbing Joseph's blood he is powerful enough to pick up and drop a steamroller on Jotaro.


 * Superhuman Speed: Dio also possesses superhuman speed and agility. At one point he was described by Speedwagon being faster than a cheetah.


 * Superhuman Senses: Demonstrated when placing his head on the ground to hear Jotaro's heartbeat, despite being a few meters away, Dio appears to have senses beyond human level.


 * Regeneration: Dio can regenerate his body faster than fire can consume it. His incredible vitality is maintained by consuming human beings (or their blood), which he commonly does by piercing them with his fingers. Similar to every Vampire portrayed in the series, Dio sucks blood through tentacles in his fingers and has been seen at least once drinking blood from an unnamed girl. His body is able to live even after having vital body parts amputated and he can also control his detached body parts. The extent of Dio's own survivability is demonstrated when he could continue as just a head.




 * Space Ripper Stingy Eyes: Dio is able to pressurize bodily liquid in his eyeballs and then create small openings in his pupils, eventually unleashing two fluid jets (referred to by Straizo as "Space Ripper Stingy Eyes" ) powerful enough to slice through stone.


 * DioFreezing.png Vaporization Freezing Technique (気化冷凍法): An ability Dio utilized after learning of the Ripple energy and the danger it presents to him. By vaporizing the moisture in his body, he can absorb heat from any living being he is in physical contact with and freeze them. This ability can be circumvented by Ripple being channeled through items and fire. Dio loses this ability after his original body was destroyed.


 * Flesh Transmutation: Dio has extensive knowledge on the anatomies of organic beings, and he uses this knowledge to graft the body parts of different beings together, using this to create revolting chimeras that he keeps as pets. Dio ultimately utilizes this power to graft his head onto Jonathan's body.


 * Flesh Bud.png Buds (肉の芽): Introduced in Stardust Crusaders, Flesh Buds are an extension of DIO's transmutation capabilities. DIO is able manipulate his hair to create parasites that he can insert into a human's head. The Flesh Bud will pierce through the skull into the part of the brain, making the afflicted compliant to Dio's charisma. As explained by Joseph, the parasite will gradually eat the inflicted's brain. If someone tries to take out the spore, which can prove fatal if it's not carefully removed, the Flesh Bud will sprout tentacles in an attempt to invade the intruder's brain. If the vampire wants, he can give permission to someone to activate the spore's tentacles anytime he wants if close to it. The spores possess another effect in case DIO himself ever dies. According to Keicho Nijimura, his father who was implanted by the spore underwent a mutation into a greenish animalistic form by having DIO's cells inside his body. Presumably, this is a side effect that the rest of the surviving Stand Users that DIO had implanted his spores inside of would suffer from.


 * Hypnosis: This ability was used twice on Jack the Ripper (anime only) and Poco, respectively. In the case of the former, Dio hypnotized Jack to convince him to join as a servant, allowing Dio to drain his blood and turn him into a zombie. Poco was manipulated to lure Jonathan into a trap, though his consciousness returned after being subjected to Jonathan's Ripple.


 * Healing: Dio also seems to possess the ability to heal other people's wounds as he was able to completely cure Pucci's wounded foot by simply touching it. The origins of this power remain unknown - however, they could serve as an extension of his transmutation capabilities or his healing factor.

Personal
Intelligence: Dio is naturally intelligent, displaying cunning and perceptiveness as well as imagination repeatedly.

As a child and teenager, Dio Brando managed to achieve academic excellence with ease, having planned to graduate from university as a top law student.

Otherwise, Dio is a cunning villain and proficient tactician in combat. Dio almost managed to get away with two murders, biding his time in order to have a perfect alibi and was only discovered by accident. Upon his return from the bottom of the ocean, DIO built in six years a powerful criminal empire spanning over several continents and which brought him many riches. In a fight, Dio is particularly cunning and perceptive, his ruthlessness making him able to exploit dishonorable and downright inhuman tactics to get ahead, such as leading his enemies into a trap, using hapless civilians as projectiles and sources of energy, or plain sneak attacks. Dio has the habit of analyzing his opponents and determine quickly a counter to their strengths, such as freezing blood in order to stop the flow of the Ripple or forcing Jotaro's bluff by throwing multiple knives from all direction so that he's forced to act during the stopped time.

Naturally ambitious, Dio constantly seeks to improve himself and meticulously studies his abilities to make the most of them. As such, he developed a freezing power akin to the Pillar Men's Modes in just a month, and in six years, discovered enough about Stands to be able to fuse several together with souls in order to create the ultimate Stand. Arguably his most successful move Dio experimented on how his vampiric powers allowed him to fuse two organisms together and used that knowledge to steal Jonathan's body.

Though he doesn't show it often, Dio has become a natural philosopher, arguing about the human condition with multiple people.

Resilience: All prior to becoming a Vampire, Dio was already an able bare-handed fighter; A skill he says he developed in the slums of London. A good amateur sportsman, during a rugby game as a young adult, he is shown to have developed high athletic ability (as well as fantastic muscle mass).

Charisma: Dio is a cunning and charming individual. In addition to Stand Users, whom Avdol and Joseph suggest he recruits through charm or charisma, he has seduced many women throughout his life.

Knowledge: Throughout both his humble youth and tempestuous maturity, Dio is often seen reading. During his pre-teens, he is seen playing chess with adults. In Stone Ocean, in conversation with Enrico Pucci, he is shown to have accumulated some wisdom within the world of Stands. Importantly, Dio is able to concoct a plan, contained in his diary, incorporating vast, unknown information as to the deliberate creation of Stands of perfectly specific abilities.

Spiritual Connection: After stealing Jonathan's body, DIO began to share a spiritual connection with Jonathan's living descendants. He notably was instinctively aware of their presence and their well-being, allowing him to track them across Cairo. Joseph mentions that DIO probably cannot distinguish between him and Jotaro, and only feel their presence.

Weaknesses

 * Vampiric Body: Dio Brando's powers, however, are all at the expense of having a body sustained by sheer willpower alone, rather than vital energy. A sufficiently powerful force of vitality - specifically sunlight or the Ripple - will negate the sustaining force's presence and disintegrate his long-unliving body.


 * Jonathan's Body (former): When DIO first acquired Jonathan Joestar's body and resurfaced from the ocean, he was unable to use the full power of his Stand, and had to acquire blood from a live Joestar to compensate and fully synchronize with his new form. Once this weakness was negated, he managed to grow significantly stronger, as did his Stand.

Family

 * Dario Brando: Dio hated his father and saw Dario only as a stepping stone in his path to ascend in society. Dio's hatred stems from the abuse Dario dealt Dio's mother with his alcoholism, as well as Dio himself, to the point where he secretly poisoned to death and tricked Dario into thinking he was sick. He emphasizes this by spitting on his father's grave before leaving for the Joestar mansion.
 * 🇺🇳: Though she isn't seen interacting with him, it's very clear that Dio loved his mother deeply, and the abuse she was dealt by his father was one of the reasons Dio slowly and painfully killed Dario.
 * Giorno Giovanna: DIO is not shown to have interacted with his son, Giorno, although Giorno keeps a photo of him in his wallet. It is unknown where Giorno got it from or if he knows of the kind of person his father was. Also of note is that DIO would drain Giorno's mother of her blood, had he not been killed himself by Jotaro.
 * Ungalo, Donatello Versus, and Rikiel: Similar to Giorno's case, the mothers of all three men were left alive. However, none of them inherited Jonathan's spirit. All three only learned of their true father's identity after their fated encounter with Pucci.

Allies

 * Enrico Pucci: DIO's encounter with Pucci is presumably the most prominent example of humanity displayed by him, having healed Pucci's foot when they first meet. Through the time he spends with Pucci, DIO comes to trust him enough to allow Pucci to inherit control of his plan. At one point, DIO forced Pucci's hand into his head and nearly had his Stand DISC removed to test Pucci's loyalty to him.
 * Vanilla Ice: While the former is fanatically loyal to his cause, even willing to chop off his head to prove his worth, DIO annoyingly notes that Vanilla Ice often forgets about the doors after he uses his Stand, Cream, to travel via making a hole in the wall. Still DIO highly respected Ice's abilities, refusing to use the blood of someone of his caliber to heal himself.
 * Wang Chan: While at first a provider of his secret oriental poison that was crucial in killing Dario and attempting to kill George, after becoming a vampire, Dio used him as a scout and aide once his head is chopped off. Despite his dependence on Wang Chan, Dio doesn't take his insults to Jonathan lightly and threatens him for it.
 * Pet Shop: While not much is known about their relationship, DIO personally selected Pet Shop as the guardian of his temple while he was in Egypt.
 * Enya the Hag: Enya was one of DIO's most loyal followers and supporters. Despite her loyalty, DIO secretly implanted her with a flesh bud to insure her secrecy.
 * N'Doul: DIO was the first person to see N'Doul's worth which caused N'Doul to admire DIO. N'Doul was so loyal to DIO, that he killed himself in order to prevent himself from leaking valuable information.
 * Johngalli A: While there is no on-screen interaction between them, Johngalli was highly loyal to DIO, as shown when he framed Jolyne for murder and attempted to kill her and Jotaro to avenge him.

Enemies

 * Jonathan Joestar: One of the most impactful relationships Dio ever had was with his adoptive brother, Jonathan Joestar. He initially viewed his adoptive brother as a stepping stone and pest to be driven to despair and abused in order to gain the Joestar family fortune. After being beaten once, he viewed him as more of a threat, feigning brotherly bonds in public, while secretly poisoning George Joestar in order to get his fortune quicker. He intended to kill Jonathan with the Stone Mask, but upon discovering the hidden power to unlock the vampire powers of man, he decided to use it on himself in order to become one. After another failed attempt to kill his adopted brother, due to his ego, Dio decides to have others face him rather than turn Jonathan into a zombie himself. After being bested by Jonathan, he quickly changes his mind, only to be thwarted once again. In their final confrontation, Dio admits he respects Jonathan in a twisted sense (to the point of scolding Wang Chan for taunting him) and is genuinely shocked when Jonathan dies. Dio would use Jonathan's body as a host, defining the destiny between him and the Joestar Family for centuries to come.
 * Will Anthonio Zeppeli: Due to Dio having used the Stone Mask and becoming a Vampire, Zeppeli immediately viewed Dio as an enemy once he learned about the incident at the Joestar Mansion and due to his own father using the same mask to become a Vampire himself. Dio himself is dismissive of Zeppeli's hatred towards his vampiric ways and connection to the Stone Mask, only viewing Zeppeli's mastery of the unfamiliar Ripple as nothing more than magic tricks.
 * Robert E. O. Speedwagon: After hearing from Jonathan what Dio was doing to George Joestar I, Speedwagon decided to help with finding the man that sold Dio the poison. Dio openly declares that after killing Jonathan, he would dispose of Speedwagon as well for being involved. After everything that had happened at the Joestar Mansion, Speedwagon went along with Jonathan and Zeppeli to defeat Dio, knowing that he was too dangerous now as a vampire to be left running around.
 * George Joestar: While George has always treated Dio with kindness and respect, Dio only saw George as a stepping stone in his quest for wealth. Thus, Dio feigned being the perfect ward to George, and even called him father despite having no such views.
 * Dire, Straizo, and Tonpetty: Being Ripple Warriors, the three knew the dangers of the Stone Mask and viewed Dio as an enemy because of his use of it. Out of the three of them, Dire was the one who really wanted to defeat Dio on his own, due to having been a friend of Zeppeli's for many years and Dio having a role in his death. At the time, Straizo knew that defeating Dio was important; however, many years later, he would admit to the older Speedwagon that he was envious of Dio due to the fact he would never age while Straizo would. This envy became so much that he would later use the Stone Mask on himself just so he could become young again.
 * Joseph Joestar: DIO needed Joseph in order to complete the merger of his head with Jonathan's body, secretly manipulating his minions to bring him closer and closer in order to drain his blood. Joseph had heard stories of Dio from Erina when he was small and knew of the danger he would bring. His hatred for DIO intensified, however, when he learnt that he had stolen the body of his grandfather, Jonathan Joestar, to use as his own. This hatred got to the breaking point when DIO's very existence threatened the life of Joseph's daughter Holy. Figuring out that since DIO was the cause of all the Stands in the Joestar family activating, it was more than likely that killing him would save Holy. That plan in mind, Joseph, along with his grandson Jotaro, his old friend Muhammad Avdol, and new ally Noriaki Kakyoin, decide to go to Egypt where DIO had gone to hide, and kill him.
 * Noriaki Kakyoin: Having met DIO on a holiday in Egypt with his family and then put under his control with a Flesh Bud, Kakyoin was loyal to him and would do anything he wanted. However, upon having the bud removed by Jotaro and seeing the harm DIO was causing towards the innocent Holy Kujo, who had shown him kindness as he was recovering at the Kujo residence, Kakyoin decided to go with Joseph, Jotaro, and Avdol to Egypt to defeat DIO.
 * Jean Pierre Polnareff: Like Kakyoin, he too met DIO and was placed under his control. After having the Flesh Bud removed by Jotaro, Polnareff decided to join the team, though at first for his own goals, as Polnareff theorized that DIO would know where his sister's killer would be. Even after he avenged her sister's death, Polnareff chose to stay with the group to defeat DIO. After the deaths of both Avdol and Iggy, Polnareff vowed to defeat DIO no matter what.
 * Muhammad Avdol: Unlike Kakyoin and Polnareff, Avdol recognized who DIO was upon meeting him, due to having heard about DIO from Joseph. As such, Avdol knew the man was an enemy immediately and managed to escape from him before he could be put under his control. With DIO threatening Holy's life due to him activating all the Stands in the Joestar bloodline, Avdol, along with Jotaro, Joseph, and Kakyoin decided to journey to Egypt to defeat Dio.
 * Jotaro Kujo: Despite DIO viewing Jotaro as nothing but an extension of Jonathan, DIO was fully aware how much of a threat Jotaro was. While Jonathan was an opponent DIO respected, Jotaro was an opponent DIO feared, as evidenced by DIO's attempts to kill him indirectly with his assasins, and eventually with his final confrontation with Jotaro. Jotaro himself however, saw DIO as nothing but a necessary evil he has to defeat in order to save his mother. After DIO had apparently killed his grandfather Joseph right in front of him, Jotaro's hatred for DIO finally intensified to where, for the first time, Jotaro was visibly enraged and acted on anger. After a long and grueling fight with the vampire, Jotaro finally managed to outwit and kill DIO.

Relationships in Over Heaven
(The information below derives from a Light Novel not written by Araki. As such, it may not be considered canon.)


 * Daniel J. and Telence T. D'Arby: DIO saw the D'Arby brothers as important tools to enter into heaven. While he believed their souls were too impure to enter themselves, he acknowledged their ability to manipulate souls as useful for his own ascension.
 * Enya the Hag: While the novel doesn't add too much to their relationship, DIO states that he would've considered letting her bear his child if she was younger.
 * Dario Brando: While their relationship is about as negative as it is in the manga, it is revealed that he hated his father for allowing him to enter the Joestar Mansion because he thought that one act of kindness allowed Dario to get into heaven and one of the reasons he wanted to get into heaven was to kill his father again before merely looking at it as a side opportunity.
 * Dio's Mother: In the novel it is revealed that his mother taught him everything he knew about the world. While DIO is unsure if heaven really exists, he believes that her death saved her from her living hell of a life. It is revealed that the words in his diary are from a nursery song she sung him.
 * Unborn Sibling: It is revealed that Dio's mother was pregnant with an unborn sibling but ended up miscarrying him/her.
 * Erina Pendleton: DIO respects Erina's strength and in some ways saw her as a bigger threat than Jonathan. DIO theorizes that Erina Joestar placed both him, herself, and the infant Lisa-Lisa in the casket on the boat where Jonathan died in order to escape the boat's explosion. DIO at first believes that Erina did this in hope DIO may return some day as a better man with Jonathan's body. He quickly dismisses the idea, stating that if it was the case that Erina reminded him of his mother.

Quotes
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Détails



 * Dans Phantom Blood, le nom de Dio est écrit normalement mais il est ensuite épellé "DIO" en englais et en lettres majuscules à partir de Stardust Crusaders et dans Stone Ocean. Ceci a probablement été fait pour accentuer son ascension en tant que monstre surnaturel.
 * En 2000, Araki' nomme Dio son dixième personnage préféré, ou son troisième méchant préféré.
 * Dans Eyes of Heaven, les musiques pour Dio Brando and Diego Brando sont des remix de l'autre. C'est aussi le cas pour DIO et pour le Diego Brando d'un univers parallèle.
 * Araki considère que Dio est le vrai protagoniste de Phantom Blood. Araki a créé le personnage de Dio en premier avant Jonathan et apparait avant Jonathan. Araki a réfléchi sur le trait le plus terrifiant que Dio possèderait et a décidé qu'un côté "mal venue du passé" serait le plus effrayant. Dio a été développé avec ce concept en tête. Après coup, la "lumière" de Jonathan a été développée pour contraster les "ténèbres" de Dio.
 * En 2018, Araki a décrit comment a influencé son manga. Il mentionne que les cheveux blonds de Dio et sa musculature on été influencés par le personnage de Roy Batty du film Blade Runner.
 * En 2007, Araki a dit que Dio est bisexuel et qu'il ne fait pas attention au sexe de l'autre tant qu'il peut obtenir ce qu'il veut d'eux.

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