Jonathan Joestar

"There are times when a gentleman has to be courageous and fight, even when his opponent is bigger than he is and he knows he's going to lose!"

- Jonathan Joestar

Jonathan Joestar (ジョナサン・ジョースター) is the protagonist of of the first arc of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Phantom Blood, and the first JoJo of the series. His legacy extends throughout almost the entirety of the first six parts of the series, with major characters such as Joseph Joestar and Jotaro Kujo being his descendants.

Born the unique son of the wealthy businessman George Joestar I, Jonathan is an honest, kind, and positive man whose life is fraught with tragedy after meeting his adopted older brother - and series antagonist - Dio Brando. In his battle against Dio, Jonathan becomes a Ripple user under the tutelage of the master Will Anthonio Zeppeli.

Jonathan is the biological father of Giorno Giovanna, the protagonist of Vento Aureo, as well as a handful of other illegitimate offspring.

Childhood
Adhering to the norms of the, Jonathan's childhood attire consisted of a collared shirt, breeches, and a pair of long socks with dress shoes. This was either accompanied by a blazer, vest, and tie, or a pair of suspenders. As a nobleman, he'd sometimes replace the tie with a ribbon-like his father's.


 * When boxing, he wears a casual boxing outfit consisting of a tank top, shorts, and boxing gloves.
 * During his time with Erina, Jonathan also dons a and a pair of knee-high boots.
 * When treading in the river, he wears a striped two-piece swimsuit.

Adult Years
As an adult, Jonathan is a tall (195 cm/6'5"), extremely muscular individual with a gentlemen's poise. His typical attire tends to reflect his noble background, characterized by stylized tunics over long-sleeve shirts. Reoccurring articles of clothing include a, bowtie, thick boots and a vest.


 * At home, Jonathan wears semi-formal attire consisting of a collared shirt, tie, and jacket with rolled-up sleeves.
 * During University Rugby matches, he wears a standard striped rugby shirt and pants with long socks.
 * When he sets out to Ogre Street to find a cure for his father's illness, Jonathan dons an entirely new outfit made up of a padded jacket and pants, complete with a cap and a long cloak.
 * During his training with Zeppeli, he strips down to a stylized tank top with wristbands, and at some point a circlet.
 * On his quest to Windknight's Lot, Jonathan dons a double-layered tunic with a bowtie and cap.
 * After his fight with Tarkus, he wears a close-fitted tank top with capped sleeves for the rest of the journey. In the anime, these sleeves are converted into shoulder pads.
 * During his honeymoon and final encounter with Dio, he wears an ornate suit with a long tail over a collared shirt with straps on the shoulders, and a cravat.

Personality
"I... I'm no match for Dio... but I can't afford to lose now! If I lose, I'll be living in Dio's shadow for the rest of my life. I have to fight to reclaim Erina's honor!"

- Jonathan,

During his childhood, Jonathan was proud and mischievous, yet gentle. Despite already aspiring to be a "true gentleman", Jonathan lacked manners and mostly behaved like a normal child. His mother having died before he could remember her, and his fellow boys ostracizing him because of his status left Jonathan somewhat lonely. While at first, Jonathan didn't have his future strength of will, Dio unwittingly became the catalyst of his growth by pushing him to the edge and humiliating his girlfriend Erina Pendleton. However, he did have the kindness and courage to immediately jump to Erina's rescue against two bullies bigger than him despite not knowing her.

First and foremost, Jonathan strives to become a "true gentleman." He carries his Joestar name with pride, never betraying the code of conduct he has set for himself and will treat any fellow human with respect unless they prove evil. Jonathan also possesses a fierce inner strength and the drive to face and overcome conflict, which Dio calls an "explosive power". That drive, fueled by his affection to his friends and loved ones, enabled him to overcome the direst situations, notably managing to save his wife Erina when their boat was overcome with zombies and he was fatally hit in the throat. Jonathan fights for what he believes in, and once he is committed to something, he won't back down until the deed is done. During his journey to find a cure for his father's illness, he was ambushed by a band of misfit hoodlums. He did not so much as flinch as he grasped an assailant's knife within his hand, saying he had much more riding on the fight than merely four fingers. As a gentleman, Jonathan is also kind and positive. Jonathan has a mindset where he tries to imagine the consequences his actions would have on other people, even if they appear to be enemies. He is gentle and sympathetic, feeling pain even as he vanquishes a zombified copper. Despite his skill in fighting, he will never seriously harm a person without a valid reason. Even after everything Dio has done, Jonathan still considers him his brother, and sheds tears for him. His courteous nature as well as his mental fortitude and ability to withstand fear and pain, is the main reason Speedwagon decides to aid him on his journey. During his life, Jonathan has always had an impulse to save others, beginning with Erina, and ending with his thought of a nearby baby just as he was agonizing from Dio's attack.

Yet Jonathan can feel righteous fury at the evilness of his foes, and will conduct justice by vanquishing them. He admitted that his reason for fighting Dio wasn't out of duty for saving the world, but to avenge his loved ones that Dio had killed. Moreover, he has no pity for truly despicable individuals he is not familiar with such as Doobie.

With his courage and spirit, Jonathan sets a legacy as the first JoJo of the series.

Fascinated with the Stone Mask, Jonathan tried to study it and even took on the path of archeology. However, not having thought of putting in on anyone, Jonathan didn't discover its true purpose himself.

Athleticism
Jonathan had lived a rough past as the son of an aristocrat, and was known in his childhood to have been at least a competent boxer. In his college life, he played Rugby alongside Dio Brando, and was revered as one of the two stars of Hugh Hudson Academy.

Even prior to learning the Ripple, Jonathan was able to hold his own against three thugs, Speedwagon among them, with sheer might and willpower. He was capable of wielding various weaponry held by the suits of armor in the Joestar Mansion. He had also performed incredible feats of strength, such as jumping from the hilt of a sword and hoisting himself up to the second floor while doing a flip over the guardrails, despite his arm being inhibited by a spear pierced into his pectorals. Perhaps his greatest display of strength was after being revitalized and empowered by Zeppeli's Ultimate Deep Pass Overdrive, where he ripped through 3 steel bars clutching his neck, a feat that even the mighty zombie Tarkus outright admitted he was incapable of.

Intelligence
Jonathan is shown to be an intelligent person and a very competent thinker during battles, constantly coming up with new strategies mid-combat to defeat foes such as Bruford and Dio.

Academically, Jonathan graduated from university after having written a celebrated thesis in archaeology. He has meticulously studied the Stone Mask, going as far as identifying the spots in the brain it would pierce, but didn't discover its true purpose himself.

In a fight, Jonathan is adept at thinking of moves on the spot and using the environment to his advantage. On several occasions, Jonathan was quick to formulate plans even in a moment of crisis. Still agonizing over the death of his father, Jonathan had to fight a vampirized Dio, and quickly thought about burning down the Joestar Mansion in order to cancel out Dio's regenerative abilities. Likewise, agonizing from a wound in the throat (which also led to a lack of oxygen going to his brain), Jonathan managed to use his last Ripple on Wang Chan to dispose of a horde of zombies and Dio at the same time by controlling Wang Chan's body into make the boat explode. Jonathan even notably used his belt as a supplementary whip before ever acquiring the Ripple, as well exploited the fact that Windknight's Lot was a coal mining town to deduce that a lake would have air pockets at its bottom to surprise Bruford with an unexpected production of Ripple.

Ripple
Jonathan has an arsenal of ancient martial art techniques, most inherited from Will A. Zeppeli and involving Ripple, at his disposal. Some are his original creation, each ending with "Overdrive".

Attacks

 * Zoom Punch (ズームパンチ): Jonathan launches his fist forward and strikes his opponent. First used by Zeppeli, the attack involves a Ripple breathing technique that dislocates and stretches the joints to extend the arm and give it greater reach while also using the same Ripple to dull the pain caused by the move. Due to the increased length, the strike immediately reaches the opponent's face first, which from that perspective seems "zoomed in."




 * Sendo Ripple Overdrive (仙道波紋): Jonathan charges a Ripple wave through his arm and releases it into a solid object, such as a wall or partition. The Ripple can travel through and reach anything on the other side, and anything hit by the Ripple is sent flying in a spiral. If the enemy is an Undead, the Ripple will enter their bloodstream and destroy them from the inside.
 * Scarlet Overdrive: Charging the Ripple into one hand, Jonathan can create a Ripple of flame. He is able to transfer over this flame to another part of his body, and anything that touches that body part has a chance of catching fire.
 * Underwater Turquoise Blue Overdrive (水中のための): Appropriately the strongest place to use the Ripple, Jonathan can release high powered tempests while underwater with enough force to blast enemies away. In most cases, a good portion of the water is propelled outward as well, draining something like a lake to waist-high depth.
 * Overdrive Barrage (連打): When Jonathan jabs fast enough consecutively, he can release multiple Overdrives at once.
 * Metal Silver Overdrive: Essentially the same as a Sendo Ripple Overdrive, but with the ability of transferring through metal.
 * Life Magnetism Overdrive (生命磁気への): With the aid of Zeppeli, Jonathan can draw all the leaves in the immediate area and magnetize them together to form one giant leaf, which was used as an impromptu-hang glider. This move can be applied to most plants, and has the ability to revive them passively as well - as when Jonathan touched a dead tree branch with his newly Ripple-healed arm and restored its wilted flowers.




 * Sunlight Yellow Overdrive (！！): His final and most memorable attack, first marked by Jonathan's words: "My heart resonates! The heat's enough to burn! The beat of my blood is razor-sharp!!" (ふるえるぞハート！燃えつきるほどヒート！！刻むぞ血液のビート！). It is a devastating and extremely rapid flurry of Ripple-infused punches with power comparable to the sun itself and has the ability to completely obliterate the Undead.

Alongside the attacks, the Ripple has various other uses in combat. A skilled Ripple user such as Jonathan has the ability to walk on water, strengthen objects and increase their potency, increase jumping height, and much more.

Healing
One of the main conveniences of the Ripple is the ability to heal the body to an extent. During his battle with Doobie, Jonathan was able to eject poison out of his bloodstream via Ripple transfusion. During his battle with Tarkus, he was also able to heal his broken neck after receiving the Supreme Pass Overdrive from Zeppeli.

Weapons



 * Luck and Pluck (と): After his defeat, Bruford gave Jonathan his sword, which played a major role in the final battle against Dio, where Jonathan was able to counter Dio's freezing ability by infusing the sword with Ripple, in order to avoid direct contact with Dio's body.

Stand
Manga Debut : Chapter 122, The Thing on the Plane Along with the The World, it was stated that DIO's semi-precognitive abilities that seemed to have resulted from a Hermit Purple-like Stand were due to a Stand power that awoke in Jonathan's body. Similar to Hermit Purple, it can produce a psychic photograph by smashing a camera, which DIO used to track the Joestars and their friends's current location to send Stand Users after them.


 * According to the JoJo novel, JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE OVER HEAVEN, this Stand shares the same name with Hermit Purple and is called "Hermit Purple #2". In the subsequent novel JORGE JOESTAR, this Stand is instead named "The Passion". The canonicity of either novel is questionable.

Site Navigation
