Josuke Higashikata (JoJolion)

"Who the hell am I?"

- Josuke Higashikata

Josuke Higashikata (東方 仗助,) is the protagonist of the eighth arc of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, JoJolion, and the eighth and current JoJo of the series.

Josuke is a young man afflicted with retrograde amnesia, lacking any memories prior to being discovered by Yasuho Hirose near the Wall Eyes in Morioh Town. He dedicates himself to discovering his former identity and those originally associated with him.

Josuke's original identity was that of Josefumi Kujo (空条 仗世文), and became his current self after fusing with the man Yoshikage Kira (吉良 吉影). Josuke is a Stand User and retains his original identity's Soft & Wet.

Appearance
Josuke is a young, physically fit man of above-average height. Josuke has a between his upper incisors and a star-shaped birthmark on his left shoulder. He has two sets of irises, four testicles, and two tongues, all joined as one, differing in texture and color. After consuming a vial of Locacaca 6251, small patches of skin on Josuke's upper body and face turned to stone, including his left eye.

He wears a tasseled "Dixie cup" sailor cap (in multiple illustrations, it is adorned with the same palm insignia as Jotaro Kujo's hat). He wears a sailor suit, cut with a wide neck and above the navel, a neckerchief with a button resembling a slotted screw head, large emblems of an anchor on his right side and a compass rose on his left, fitted pants with a belt, and a pair of high-top athletic shoes.

Yasuho mentions he resembles her dog, Josuke.

Personality
"I'm going to take back the past I lost!"

- Josuke Higashikata,

The tentatively named Josuke Higashikata is a quirky amnesiac determined to learn his true identity and his past.

Josuke is afflicted by extensive retrograde amnesia, lacking memory of himself or events prior to meeting Yasuho Hirose, but retaining various degrees of knowledge. As such, Josuke is driven to discover who he was by investigating the circumstances of his presence in the beach prior to having been saved by Yasuho. That goal occupies nearly all of his activities, and no action on his part is made without attempting to reach the truth. That drive is sufficiently strong that he was willing to interrupt a rare moment with his love interest Yasuho to investigate Karera Sakunami. After learning about his past identity, Josuke set for himself the new goal of retrieving the Locacaca branch and using the fruit to heal Holy Joestar-Kira. He still demonstrates the same steadfastness in investigating the fruit and the whereabouts of the Locacaca Organization, with the addition of deferring more to Rai Mamezuku's opinions, deeming the plant appraiser's expertise about the fruit worth listening to. His determination to reach his goals is best illustrated when he willingly steps into a rain made deadly by Satoru Akefu's Stand, letting his body be pierced by raindrops, including his head, just to reach the hospital.

Josuke seems to have retained certain traits from both of his original identities. At times he displays strong emotions like Josefumi while also being able to analyze situations and strategize like Yoshikage. However, Josuke ultimately considers himself separate from both, being neither Kira or Josefumi as he doesn't have memories from either man nor did anyone from Josefumi's past look for him. It causes him to question what he really is and consider his identity to be nebulous. Nonetheless, he felt a strong sadness when he first saw Holy Joestar-Kira, meaning he has also retained subconscious memories strong enough to still feel attachment to her.

While Josuke can be violent at times, he also has a degree of restraint toward enemies he doesn't need to kill. On multiple occasions he has asked members of the Higashikata family for permission before pursuing an enemy that relates to them, and he even kept his promise to not harm Jobin while trying to get information about the Locacaca out of him. However, Josuke is willing to defend himself and the people he knows from anyone who wishes to harm them. Unlike his counterpart Jotaro, Josuke isn't disturbed at the idea of hitting women and readily knocked out Kyo when she attacked him. Josuke is not afraid to threaten to kill, and he indeed killed Tamaki Damo in cold-blood in retaliation for threatening his adoptive family, though his main goal of discovering his identity means that killing his aggressors is counterproductive. That killing intent is easily triggered when someone hurts Yasuho. Josuke has also proven to be proficient at manipulating people, notably Jobin with whom he would adopt a more nonchalant persona to seem harmless. Apart from that, Josuke approaches his task calmly and methodically.

Josuke is relatively polite and has been shown to strongly value familial relationships. Being amnesiac, Josuke places a great emphasis on one's family and legacy, wishing to learn his own past. The fact that no one came looking for him while hospitalized deeply unnerves him, to the point he can shed tears at the thought, and Josuke honors Norisuke Higashikata's adoption of him, considering himself a part of the Higashikatas. When Karera rejects her own parents, Josuke comments that they would never get along. He's not only willing to defend his adoptive family, but he strongly desires to cure Holy of her illness despite not having any memories of her. However, Josuke continues to suspect members of the Higashikata family of working against him. Josuke cares for Yasuho on a stronger level than even his family, and any threat to her well-being greatly angers him. In fact, during his battle with Yotsuyu Josuke is shown to possess a similar type of willpower to Johnny Joestar's "dark determination." However, when it comes to his goals, Josuke is straight to the point and hardly tolerates any circling around the subject. For instance, he didn't hesitate to directly ask Norisuke if he killed Yoshikage Kira, forcing the latter to explain his motives.

Despite all this, Josuke also has a certain number of humorous quirks. He seems to be totally oblivious when it comes to mundane things while at the same time retaining in-depth knowledge of animal and plant species. Josuke prefers sleeping underneath a whole mattress rather than the bed sheets for "increased compression." He also regularly spills food he enjoys. During his earlier interactions with Yasuho, Josuke would pry on her breast size offhandedly, measuring it by sight (a trait that he probably gained from Yoshikage, as Holy was shown to possess a similar skill). Josuke has also demonstrated a more childish side, implanting his hair into Joshu and Hato Higashikata for fun. Whenever the mood is right, Josuke seems to have fun declaring his victory. He notably consciously poses after outsmarting the population of Shakedown Road and also smugly claimed his win against Jobin in a stag beetle fight.

Stand


Soft & Wet is Josuke's Stand. Initially belonging to Josefumi, Josuke retains it after the fusion with Kira, albeit with some minor differences.

Its primary ability ("Plunder") is to steal some aspect or property of a target; to be contained in one or more small soap bubbles (bearing the image of his birthmark), which may be returned or transferred to other objects. This ability has been used both offensively and strategically. Soft & Wet also demonstrates above-average strength and the capacity for rapid melee attack common to humanoid Stands.

Like himself, Josuke's Stand is described as a fusion of Yoshikage Kira's Killer Queen and the original Soft & Wet belonging to Josefumi Kujo.

During his fight with Yotsuyu Yagiyama, Josuke decides to "use [his] soap bubbles for offense rather than defense..." Soft & Wet is shown to be able to surround and contain objects by creating a soap bubble and punching it into said object. The bubble bursts but then reforms around the target; Josuke is then able to make the bubble and object inside float anywhere he wants to, just like his regular soap bubbles.

By combining strikes with his bubbles, he is able to "inject" one of his soap bubbles into the flesh of his opponents, causing superficial damage when he pops them. The explosive property of the bubbles was first demonstrated against the A. Phex Brothers and described by them as being very similar to Kira's ability.

Personal Skills

 * Sight: Josuke possesses exceptional sight, being capable of accurately describing the dimensions of organic objects such as humans and trees from afar (a trait shared with Holy Joestar-Kira). Moreover he seems to have a wide field of view, spotting movement at his feet's level despite looking away.
 * Hand-to-hand combat: Josuke demonstrates a natural affinity towards hand to hand combat, having fluidly blocked and struck an opponent in one swift motion, augmenting the damage his blow causes with the powers of his Stand. He is also capable of displaying high reflexes and fast reaction speed common of experienced fighters.
 * Intelligence: Josuke is an extremely proficient tactician in a fight. He is able to use his Stand to various effects and predict his opponents next moves easily. Josuke is a methodical individual, having quickly deduced Born This Way's powers via simple experimentation, as well as taking advantage of Les Feuilles's characteristics despite seeing them in action only recently. Out of combat, Josuke is thorough in his investigation, being careful about covering his tracks. He has also displayed proficient skill in mathematics, having easily solved a trigonometry problem given to him by Joshu.

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