Iggy

"I guess I don't have the heart to abandon a kid who likes dogs!"

- Iggy

Iggy (イギー) is a primary ally featured in the third part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Stardust Crusaders.

New York's king of stray dogs, Iggy is brought to the Joestar Group after arriving in Egypt and reluctantly joins them on their final trek to to defeat DIO. Iggy is a Stand user who wields the shapeshifting Stand of sand, The Fool.

Appearance
Iggy is a with black and white fur. His forehead, muzzle, underside, and paws are white.

Iggy's design and facial features gradually shift as the story progresses; his head becomes rounder, his ears grow larger, his eyes are placed closer together with smaller irises, and his nose is drawn smaller. He loses his left front paw during his battle with Pet Shop.

Personality
"I thought you were a pain-in-the-ass dog, but I liked the way you never took orders from humans... Now I get it! The reason you were never nice to us... was your pride!"

- Jean Pierre Polnareff,



Iggy is a highly intelligent but unruly, prideful, self-indulgent dog described as having an "awful" personality. He is primarily interested in living a peaceful, carefree life, especially with a girlfriend.

Although the Speedwagon Foundation brings him to fight alongside the Joestar Group, he is apathetic to their cause. Iggy prefers to be independent, often departing from the group to do whatever he feels like and causing chaos in the process. Polnareff states that Iggy is so defiant because he is too prideful to listen to anybody, a trait he upholds until his death. Iggy greatly values his independence and will deter anyone who threatens it, regardless of if they are a human or an animal. Particularly, he likes to rip out humans' hair and fart in their faces among other pranks. Additionally, he is able to take on an intimidating gaze to scare strangers away. Due to his intelligence, he is also capable of recognizing and understanding others' Stands, so he will even use The Fool to keep people away from him. If he realizes that he is in danger, he may pretend to act like a dumb dog to seem innocent. He has no regard for others, even putting the Joestar Group at risk of death to ensure his own safety. He goes by the philosophy of survival of the fittest and looks down on people he perceives as stupid, who he says cause their own deaths. Iggy is also somewhat gluttonous and commonly steals food, even chewing entire boxes of gum.

Iggy's pride also extends to confidence in his own abilities. He believes his Stand to be a match for Jotaro's Star Platinum.

His unruliness and pride lend themselves to a taste for vengeance. In addition to fending off those he finds annoying, Iggy will hold a grudge against anyone who especially inconveniences him. Although initially wishing to stay out of any trouble that could come with siding with the Joestar Group, he becomes motivated to stop DIO purely out of revenge, as noted by Kakyoin.



However, despite his general disregard for human life and well-being, Iggy is not entirely without morals. He has a fondness for children who like dogs, going as far as to engage Pet Shop to save a random Egyptian boy who was worried about his two dogs. Additionally, although seemingly antisocial, he is indeed capable of forming bonds with humans. Polnareff and Iggy often antagonize each other, but Iggy ends up caring about Polnareff enough to sacrifice his own life, using the last of his power to save Polnareff with The Fool.

Stand
The Fool is a highly versatile Stand composed of sand, the mass of which Iggy can throw with great force or use to construct intricate and variable shapes.

Sense of smell
As a dog, Iggy has a superior sense of smell. This is shown prominently when facing off against N'Doul. This extends to Stands as well, being able to detect Geb from its smell alone.

Background
A pure breed with a certificate, Iggy was originally bought by a rich man when he was a puppy. As he grew older, he began to believe humans are stupid and decided to leave home. He was eventually found by Muhammad Avdol in the street slums of New York acting as the king of the stray dogs. Only Avdol was able to come close to him, as ordinary dog catchers were attacked by his Stand.

In the light novel Iggy the Stray Dog, Iggy's backstory is explained in more detail. Iggy was a Boston Terrier bred and initially raised by a breeder. A wealthy man named "Mr. Electra" or "Mr. E" from Brooklyn then bought Iggy for the prestige of his pedigree and brought the dog to his home. However, the man wasn't an affectionate lover and merely wanted Iggy for decoration.

The circumstance of the development of Iggy's ability remain mysterious. The Speedwagon Foundation investigators having determined that Iggy's parents didn't have any special ability.

Soon in the care of Mr. E, several incidents involving Iggy and sand happened. At one point, as a still very young Iggy was being walked in Mr. E, Iggy peed in a sand box and when he scratched the sand, the sand splattered Mr. E. The man got angry and also threw sand at Iggy which caused Iggy to grow detached from his owner. Iggy would deliberately avoid Mr. E and also became headstrong and insolent, refusing to obey Mr. E's order like showing his belly. Mr. E discriminated Iggy compared to his other dogs, for instance offering Iggy plates of sand instead of treats.

At one point, strange phenomenons began to occur. One morning Mr. E found sand in his tea although there was no way that sand could have slipped into his room. Iggy would now find ways to sneakily go into the pantry and eat in secret, escape when locked up in a room, and always managed to escape whenever he was being chased around the house.

Iggy grew to look down on everybody in the house, and also didn't get along with the other dogs. One servant was in charge of walking Iggy around the house and noted Iggy's interest in coffee-flavored gum, thus she bought some for the dog, who loved chewing on it so much it even kept the wrapper with him the first time. Then one day, Iggy disappeared from Mr. E's mansion and, according to a report about a dog attacking a candy store, probably went to rob a store to steal gum. Afterwards, Iggy didn't come back and landed in Manhattan.

The Nile River, Egypt
Iggy came to the scene aboard a Speedwagon-sponsored helicopter in the middle of the Egyptian desert, brought by the Speedwagon Foundation to help in the battle against DIO. Polnareff, being cocky and intrigued about their new partner, becomes the target of the ferocity that Iggy is infamous for, after disturbing his slumber. The pilots and Avdol were only able to control him because of one unlikely treat: coffee-flavored chewing gum.

Because of how he attacked Polnareff, everyone, especially Jotaro, had doubts about the suitability of Iggy's companionship. Iggy also didn't want to take part in a battle that had nothing to do with him. Their questioning grew deeper when they were attacked by N'Doul in the middle of the desert. Iggy ran from the battle, showing his cowardice and lack of intention to help. They misinterpreted Iggy's pursuit of N'Doul's trail for cowardice.

Jotaro grasps Iggy in his hand, forcing Iggy to cooperate before N'Doul's Geb attacked them both. Left with no choice, Iggy took Jotaro to the enemy, but in the middle of their pursuit, Iggy decided to leave Jotaro behind to be killed alone. Jotaro then threw Iggy at N'Doul, distracting the enemy enough and leading him to his eventual defeat. Jotaro ends up forgiving Iggy, saying he, too, wouldn't like to be dragged in a war he had nothing to do with himself. Iggy decided to accompany the group and earn their trust, even though Polnareff still believed he would run away in the end.

Going Up the Nile
Iggy doesn't do much during their journey but unintentionally helps the group several times. In Aswan, he saved them from drinking Oingo's poisoned tea and makes his plan to blow up Jotaro with a bomb hidden in an orange peel backfire, as he picks up the bomb and brings it to Oingo (disguised as Jotaro). When Oingo tries to leave the scene, Polnareff threw the bomb after him because Iggy put his mouth on it.

In Edfu, Iggy accidentally saves Jotaro from Anubis' last assassination attempt. When Anubis possesses a young boy, Iggy makes the boy trip as he grabs the boy's candy, making Anubis fall into the Nile.

In Cairo, Iggy also defeats Boingo without even knowing he was an enemy Stand user. After Hol Horse was hospitalized by another backfired plan, Boingo kicks a crate and accidentally hits Iggy, which makes the dog furious enough to attack Boingo.

Cairo, Egypt
While the Joestar Group looks for DIO's Mansion, Iggy wanders in the streets of Cairo and fatefully comes across the building itself. When two dogs come snarling, Iggy intimidates them and the dogs decide to go for a weaker prey. Spotting the shadow of a bird from under a door, the dogs crawl inside the property, only for Iggy to see their heads flying, impaled on an ice spike while their bodies are forcibly dragged inside. A falcon then appears, watching Iggy suspiciously. However, the falcon then spots the beggar and creates an icicle large enough to crush the beggar. As the falcon flies around, Iggy realizes it is a Stand user protecting the mansion and that it may come for him next. Indeed, the falcon Pet Shop is the wielder of the Stand Horus.

Pet Shop sets his attention again on Iggy, who tries to play dumb as he doesn't want to get involved in the disputes of humans he doesn't care about. However, a young boy comes looking for his dogs. Seeing his dogs' collars, the boy tries to crawl under the gate of the mansion too and gets attacked by Pet Shop too. However, Iggy comes to the rescue, not having the heart to let a dog-loving kid be killed. After helping the kid escape, Iggy confronts Pet Shop but is taken by surprise when Pet Shop freezes the ground and shoots icicles at him. Iggy is forced to flee but the eagle-eyed falcon easily spots him and pursues him down to a sewer. However, when Pet Shop shoots Iggy, it turns out Iggy was a clone made of sand. Iggy comes out of the shadows and has The Fool claw at the bird. Satisfied, Iggy calls it a draw, but the injured, Pet Shop decides to deploy the full strength of his Horus, turning the whole sewer into an icy world. In the humid environment, Iggy finds himself at a huge disadvantage. When Iggy's paw is frozen in place, the dog must bite off a paw to escape into the Nile.

At the bottom of the Nile, Iggy takes refuge under a protective dome of sand. However, Pet Shop can swim. He finds the dome and threatens to shoot the dog with icicles. The Fool manages to deflect an icicle toward Pet Shop, but the bird then tries to crush the dome beneath a mass of ice. The dog digs to escape but he then stumbles another tunnel where Pet Shop await, charging an icicle to kill him at close range. In a desperate act, Iggy lets the dome behind him collapse and makes the surge of pressure push him forward. That way, he clamps Pet Shop's beak shut and the icicle makes Pet Shop's bird explode. Exhausted from a lack of blood and coming close to drowning, Iggy reminisces his life as the king of the stray dogs in New York. Thankfully, he is ultimately rescued by the boy he protected earlier.

Iggy is subsequently found by a fully recovered Kakyoin, who reunites with the group after having a Speedwagon Foundation doctor treat Iggy's injuries. After a short but cheerful reunion, Iggy decides to lead them to DIO's Mansion, where Telence T. D'Arby welcomes them and abducts Jotaro, Joseph and Kakyoin.

Battle in DIO's Mansion
After waiting for ten minutes, Avdol, Polnareff and Iggy decide to enter the mansion. Iggy and Avdol team up in the illusory maze created by Tenore Sax inside the mansion to track down and rapidly defeat Kenny G. However, the group is ambushed by Vanilla Ice, one of DIO's last servants. Avdol shoves his companions aside but is killed.

Vanilla Ice has disintegrated Avdol, forcing him into Cream's mouth, and is now targeting Polnareff and Iggy. Cream becomes an invincible and invisible ball of destruction that's flying after them and they must flee. Iggy and Polnareff arrive at the art gallery but see the gaping hole on the floor, meaning Vanilla Ice is there. Although they cover each other's back, Polnareff is ambushed from below and Vanilla Ice takes his left foot. Iggy and Polnareff then devise a plan to trick Vanilla Ice. Iggy and Polnareff hide in the stairs and Iggy creates a "DIO" made of sand to fool Vanilla Ice. Unfortunately, Vanilla Ice sees through the trick as the real DIO wouldn't have come to a place where the sun's rays are still visible. Vanilla Ice singles out Iggy and proceeds to violently beat him up for making him strike at DIO's image. Polnareff continues the fight and manages to inflict a mortal wound, but it seems that Vanilla Ice refuses to die.

Polnareff then brings Iggy close to him. Cream begins to make circles around Polnareff, aiming to eventually reach and disintegrate him. Polnareff puts Iggy in a safe spot but fails to escape. A dying Iggy summons The Fool to help Polnareff but the Frenchman tells him to stay safe instead. The Polnareff salutes the dog as Cream approaches, but Iggy spends the last of his strength to lift Polnareff with The Fool, allowing Polnareff to ambush Vanilla Ice. Iggy dies but Polnareff is able to expose Vanilla Ice to the sunlight and kill him, because he had become a Vampire. After Ice's defeat, the souls of Iggy and Avdol are seen floating in the golden sky. Sharing one last glance at Polnareff, the two fallen crusaders ascend into the afterlife.

The Train from the Desert to Hell City
Iggy plays an important part in the battle against Absalom and Michal, tricking both with his Stand. He temporarily blinds the enemies by covering Satanic Coupler's window pane with The Fool's sand. Later he fools Absalom with a sand clone of Jotaro, allowing the real Jotaro to rescue the rest of the group.

Allies

 * Jotaro Kujo: Jotaro sees value in Iggy during the fight with N'Doul with his keen senses and powerful Stand. Iggy gives back Jotaro's lost hat, shortly earning his trust until Jotaro realized that Iggy put coffee gum inside it. Iggy, although not vocal about it, is a very prideful stand user, even believing that The Fool is stronger than Star Platinum. After the battle with DIO, Jotaro and Joseph acknowledge his death, alongside the other fallen crusaders.


 * Joseph Joestar: When first introduced, Iggy acted much like a stray and initially hated everyone in the group. After the fight with N'Doul, he would willingly tag along with them, but during fights, he'd usually disappear. It wasn't until his fight with Pet Shop where his inner thoughts came to light; at this point, he seemed to understand Joseph was the leader of the group. While the interaction between the two was fairly minor, after sacrificing himself for Polnareff to defeat Vanilla Ice, Joseph and the group acknowledged his heroism and mourned his death along with the others.


 * Jean Pierre Polnareff: The two initially did not get along since Polnareff woke him up after a bumpy flight. Polnareff disliked Iggy's cocky and demeaning attitude and antagonized him frequently, causing Polnareff to be Iggy's most common target when it came to getting bitten and farted on. Despite this, during their fight against Cream, Iggy sacrificed himself to save Polnareff. Polnareff deeply mourned his sacrifice, admitting he initially thought Iggy was a stubborn mutt but grew to love how stubborn he was and how he didn't get close to humans because it showed how proud he was, and it was this determination that allowed him to beat Cream.


 * Muhammad Avdol: Avdol first encountered Iggy when he was causing trouble in New York and captured him. Avdol would later recruit Iggy into the Joestar Group and used coffee gum to calm him down. After Avdol sacrificed himself in the battle against Vanilla Ice, Iggy became determined to avenge him. In the end, Iggy failed to avenge Avdol but inspired Polnareff to do so instead.

Enemies

 * Pet Shop: Upon encountering Pet Shop, Iggy saw him devour 2 dogs and attempted to avoid fighting him, but after Pet Shop attacked a dog-loving boy, Iggy went to defend him. During their fight, Iggy lost his left paw and Iggy would take revenge by forcing Pet Shop's beak closed while he was attacking and blew him up. It was Pet Shop's actions that made Iggy want to kill DIO in the first place.


 * Vanilla Ice: Originally Iggy just saw Ice as an obstacle in his vengeance towards DIO, after Ice killed Avdol, Iggy became determined to kill him. In the end, Iggy failed to kill him but inspired Polnareff to do so instead.


 * DIO: Iggy was dragged against his will into joining the Joestar Group in Egypt, and as such didn't care about DIO or what was happening, being more concerned about himself. After his fight with Pet Shop though, he decided to help the group defeat DIO, as it was because of him that Iggy was brought to Egypt and put through so much trouble in the first place. In the end, DIO and Iggy never personally encounter one another, as Iggy dies protecting Polnareff during his fight with Vanilla Ice.

Relationships in Eyes of Heaven
(The information below derives from a Video Game not written by Araki. As such, it may not be considered canon.)


 * Joseph Joestar: While their relationship is essentially the same as in the manga, Young Joseph will complain about having to team up with Iggy and state that he has evil eyes, but later states he is not bad for a mutt. Iggy will also complain about teaming up with Young Joseph and notes that his scent is similar to the Joseph he knows and wonders why.


 * Jotaro Kujo: When encountering Jotaro from Diamond is Unbreakable, Iggy will not recognize him at first and is surprised he knows his favorite snack. When he does recognize Jotaro, Iggy attempts to put another piece of gum in his hat and wonders why he has gotten older.


 * Noriaki Kakyoin: Iggy is very disobedient towards Kakyoin and wants to put gum in his hair.


 * DIO: Upon encountering DIO, Iggy immediately hates him. Upon defeating him, he will announce he is the true emperor.

Creation and Development
Hirohiko Araki comments on how he wanted to have a pet dog join the Joestar group as he was writing Part 3 because to him dogs represent loyalty and friendship. He chose a dog to go with the party and not a cat because he felt that a cat would betray its allies somewhere along the line; in fact, Araki would end up putting cats on the enemy side. He chose Iggy's breed because a black and white dog would be easy to depict in manga.

Initially, Araki didn't plan on letting Iggy join the Joestar party nor have a Stand and Tarot card. While he felt that The Fool was the perfect match for Iggy, it was also the last card he had left to assign besides The World. Instead, he planned on assigning The Fool to an enemy Stand user, but he mentions that he loved the Stand's design and that it's "kind of crazy that it ended up being the last one left for [him] to assign".

Iggy was the first animal that Araki had put into a main role in a manga. It was also his first time he put one into battle as well, so he used 's  as a reference. The more he drew Iggy, the more he loved dogs, to the point where he thought of getting a Boston terrier himself (however, he gave up on it because he thought it would be hard to take care of a dog as a manga artist).

Gallery
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Trivia

 * In the Heritage for the Future game, when Alessi uses Sethan on Iggy, he reverts into his initial appearance.
 * Iggy's second special seems to be a reference to 's famous Shun Goku Satsu (AKA the Raging Demon) from the franchise, also developed by Capcom. Aside from the similar animation, the game's data contains an unused sprite of the kanji for dog (犬, "inu"), parodying the kanji for heaven (天, "ten") that appears during Akuma/Gouki's Shun Goku Satsu.