Rohan Kishibe/Personality and Relationships

Personality
"Did you think the great Kishibe Rohan draws comics because he wants money?! I draw comics because I "WANT TO BE READ"! That's the one and only reason. I couldn't care less about anything else!"

- Rohan Kishibe

Rohan is very much aware of his nearly superhuman skill and his success in his profession as a mangaka, thus his attitude towards others is seen as arrogant. This even borders on a narcissistic personality disorder, as Rohan generally looks down at everyone in some way or another and genuinely believes there is no one on Earth greater than him. He doesn't take well to criticism and has a deep-seated need to consistently make exciting chapters for his manga, fearing being forgotten about if he doesn't. He doesn't socialize much, as he finds most people to be "incompatible with his wavelength" (especially Josuke, whom he greatly dislikes). Even Koichi Hirose, the one person Rohan does consider his friend, frequently calls him overbearing and pushy, especially when Rohan successfully manipulates Koichi into assisting him in his work research several times. He even states he loves saying his famous catchphrase "I refuse" to those who he says think of themselves as hot shit. Rohan is also an expert at psychological mind tricks. He tends to cover up his true feelings with his arrogance, although he is not without his sincere moments, as seen when bidding farewell to the ghost of Reimi Sugimoto.

Being very successful at his job results in massive wealth - evident by his house worth several million yen or the Gucci watch he wears. He does, however, make it a point that he never was interested in gaining fame and wealth. His only passion is to create manga, and he goes to great lengths for his research to make his work feel as "realistic" as possible, at one point spending his entire fortune on buying a bunch of mountains where he heard a demon resided, causing him to spend his time at Koichi's home until his next paycheck. He is eccentric in his mannerisms, and could even be said to be slightly childish. Even though he acts indifferent to the affairs of others, he does believe in the forces of good, making him a valuable ally in the chase against Yoshikage Kira – especially after hearing the tragic story of Reimi, of which he is directly involved. He also seems to believe in age-elitism, where those who are younger should respect those who are older as he tells RPS kid, who is only eleven years old, that as his elder he should give him some advice. In addition, he tells Josuke to pay him respect and sit down in the first chapter of Highway Star arc. His respect for Joseph Joestar seems to further imply this.

Acquaintances
Despite loving his manga more than anything else, even over friends and family, Rohan still maintains relationships with the protagonists; albeit some being strained.


 * Koichi Hirose: Koichi was one of the first people Rohan met upon his return to Morioh. Despite trapping Koichi and using him for new manga ideas, Rohan shows more trust and friendship towards Koichi than the rest of Morioh's inhabitants. While Koichi is often perturbed by Rohan's near-obsessive behavior over him, he also has attempted to help Rohan in return.
 * Reimi Sugimoto: Reimi was a babysitter for a young Rohan in life. As a ghost, Reimi still treats Rohan as though he were a child. While he often acts begrudging towards her treatment of him, he also shows unceasing determination to find her killer, as Reimi had sacrificed herself to save Rohan's life as a child.
 * Josuke Higashikata: Josuke and Rohan loathe each other, with their relationship being strained at best. Rohan views Josuke as simple-minded, and Josuke is often annoyed by Rohan's arrogance. Despite their sharply contrasting personalities, Rohan shows some trust in Josuke despite their rough history together.
 * Jotaro Kujo: Jotaro and Rohan seem to have a relationship based on mutual respect. Rohan seems to regard Jotaro as knowledgable, and Jotaro trusts Rohan despite being a former enemy. They've shown to be capable of working together, such as in Kira's arc when they're stuck in the time loop. Rohan also has Jotaro's hotel room phone number in his address book, which implies they have contacted each other for other purposes beforehand.
 * Okuyasu Nijimura: They only truly interact once, when Okuyasu goes to save Koichi from Rohan and Rohan nearly causes Okuyasu to commit suicide by burning himself, using Heaven's Door to manipulate him. While the two aren't seen together afterwards, it is safe to say they don't have a good relationship since Okuyasu holds a grudge against Rohan for what he did while Rohan is mostly indifferent to Okuyasu.
 * Joseph Joestar: Unlike with most people, he seems rather polite to Joseph, possibly since he is his elder (and often refers to him as Joestar-san or Mr. Joestar). Joseph has been shown to be a fan of Rohan's works, something Rohan appreciates, and he usually speaks calmly to Joseph, explaining his investigation in uncovering Kira's whereabouts. He even states one of the main reasons he tolerates Josuke is out of respect for Mr. Joestar, further demonstrating his respect for him.
 * Tonio Trussardi: Although both characters do not interact in the manga proper, they are featured in the Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe - Episode 6: Poaching Seashore as allies. In the one-shot, Tonio and Rohan are portrayed as friends, even though Rohan disapproved of Tonio coming to Morioh in order to cook. Rohan changed his mind after eating Tonio's abalone risotto, and the two cooperated to go poaching for a rare type of abalones. During their escapade, Rohan ended up saving Tonio's life.
 * Yukako Yamagishi: While the two have no interaction, Rohan learned about her after reading Koichi's memories using Heaven's Door. When Josuke asks if Rohan wants to sit with him, Okuyasu and Yukako, he declines while referring to Yukako as a crazy bitch (or the moody Yukako depending on translations).
 * Shizuka Joestar: The two have little interaction though Rohan once scared her by using flash on his camera. On another occassion, he used her help against RPS Kid to force him to lose to Rohan using her invisibility powers. He seems to care for her, as he became worried when he lost her and helped Joseph and Josuke look for her.
 * Hayato Kawajiri: Rohan noticed that Hayato was in many of the pictures he took of people who were possibly Kira in disguise and tailed him. He tried to get information out of him, though Hayato refused, knowing telling him anything would activate Bites the Dust and kill Rohan. Rohan did eventually get killed by Bites the Dust since he used Heaven's Door to read Hayato's memories, much to Hayato's horror. Luckily, his fate is avoided thanks to Josuke.
 * Toshikazu Hazamada: Toshikazu was a huge fan of Rohan who accidentally learned about his address and decided to visit the mangaka himself. He was impressed by Rohan and stated he truly admired him from the bottom of his heart even after Rohan used Heaven's Door on him. In contrast, Rohan read through Toshikazu's memories and learned of his sordid personality and actions and frankly dismissed him, much to Toshikazu's sadness.
 * Tamami Kobayashi: The two worked together in I am an Alien arc to expose Josuke's cheating during a game of Ceelo between him and Rohan where it was obvious the dice they were used were somehow rigged to let Josuke win (it was Mikitaka disguised as dice and constantly throwing winning tosses for Josuke).

Enemies

 * Yoshikage Kira: While initially only interested in chasing down the serial killer in order to improve the quality of his manga, Rohan takes Kira much more seriously after learning that the man had killed his childhood babysitter. Evidently, all of Rohan's attempts at tracking Kira down have been done alone, with limited help from his allies.
 * Ken Oyanagi: Ken initially annoyed Rohan greatly when they first met by challenging him multiple times to Janken (Rock, Paper, Scissors). Because of this, Rohan felt little remorse for making him upset, eventually reaching the point of spontaneously punching him in the face out of irritation. When Rohan learned that Ken was actually attempting to steal Heaven's Door's ability in order to gain power, he acted diligently to beat him, and happily gloated in his victory. Rohan had a change of attitude after seeing Ken attempt suicide over the thought of losing his own Stand, claiming that he is moved whenever he sees people whom are dramatic like him.
 * Yuya Fungami/Highway Star: Though Rohan did not meet Fungami personally, he ended up a victim of his Stand. Rohan was shown to have enjoyed defying Highway Star, despite being completely at its mercy.
 * Masazo Kinoto: The architect was hired to inspect Rohan's house after it was burned in order to agree on a rebuilding plan. Upon their meeting, Rohan immediately used Heaven's Door in order to check if he was an enemy Stand user. Learning of Masazo's abnormal fear of having his back seen piqued his curiosity. During the inspection, Rohan tried time and time again to look at Masazo's back, and was eventually successful. This was the cause of Masazo's death, as his own Stand drained his life force and latched onto Rohan.
 * Cheap Trick: The Stand was an immediate threat to Rohan once it attached to him, making constant attempts to get other people to see his back in order to kill him. When he was able to remove the Stand via Reimi's Alley, he uses Heaven's Door to write in it "I'm going to Hell" before it gets dragged off into the unknown.