Noriaki Kakyoin (花京院 典明, Kakyōin Noriaki) is a core ally in Stardust Crusaders.
Initially a Japanese student visiting Egypt, he is manipulated by DIO and sent to kill Jotaro Kujo. After being freed from DIO's influence, he decides to join Jotaro on his quest to Egypt to save Jotaro's mother and find redemption. Kakyoin is a Stand User and wields Hierophant Green.
Kakyoin is a young man of average to above-average height and fit to slender build. He is typically seen wearing a slim-fitting long gakuran/tsume-eri, but was also shown wearing striped pajamas during his initial encounter with Death Thirteen. In the anime, he wears the pajamas when admitted to the hospital.
Kakyoin keeps medium-length hair, characterized by a large, twisting bang hanging before his face. He wears cherry shaped earrings: each is a long, fine arch, tipped by small spheres.
He is considered handsome and has captured the attention of a few women. One of Jotaro's own admirers commented on his looks and during the Tower of Gray encounter, he swooned two female stewardesses. He is also referred to as beautiful upon arriving in India by a man trying to sell him a tattoo.
Later, Kakyoin acquires two thin scars vertically crossing both eyes; which he often hides with a pair of dark sunglasses.
First introduced as an evil and cruel teenager because of DIO's brainwashing, Noriaki Kakyoin reveals himself as a righteous, though blunt individual. Kakyoin is ruthless with his enemies, but loyal to his companions.
His reason for joining the Joestar Group is for both fighting evil, as he mirrors Jotaro's own explanations for saving his life, and of course a sense of debt toward Jotaro for saving his life. Thus Kakyoin is also a brave individual, willingly participating in the dangerous journey to Egypt, and is also able to keep his nerves even in the direst situations such as having been punched through by The World.
Kakyoin is noted by Araki to be "the honor student type"[7], and thus can be described as haughty and somewhat introverted. Though he normally keeps a polite and somewhat formal behavior, Kakyoin is a rather cold and prideful man. He hates bowing down or brown-nosing. The humiliation of having been weak enough to bow to DIO was a part of his motivation for seeking redemption and revenge during Stardust Crusaders.
Kakyoin mentions he could never relate to people because of his ability, and thus never desired to make friends for most of his life. The Joestar Group is the only group with whom he has attached himself, but he cares very strongly for them. Nonetheless, he still keeps a certain distance toward everyone with the exception of Jotaro, and to some extent, Joseph, and Araki himself mentions that if it weren't for their Stands, Kakyoin and Jotaro wouldn't have been friends[8]. Kakyoin but has shown to also lighten up with Polnareff, though, he can also be very brutal and vindictive, having elbowed Polnareff too as a "reconciliation". His attitude is notably worse with his enemies, whom he frequently threatens and belittles, and during his fights, he is very ruthless against them. Both as a hero and an antagonist, Kakyoin is particularly violent as he remorselessly kills all of his opponents (ripping Tower of Gray without qualm), arguing that they were evil beyond redemption; moreover he viciously takes revenge on Mannish Boy by forcing him to eat his own excrement, the first and only time he took exception.
Kakyoin has stated that if he were to fall in love, he would fall in love with someone like Holy, who gives off the feeling that anything will be alright and can calm anyone's hearts, making them feel at ease.
Kakyoin's long-range humanoid Stand is Hierophant Green; able to extend tentacle-like limbs or unravel to a modest extent; as well as fire a barrage of hard projectiles (an "Emerald Splash"). He is often seen shouting his signature attack (like the Emerald Splash) in fights.
When Kakyoin was younger, he had difficulty making friends due to the fact that he felt no one could understand him since no one he met could see Hierophant Green. One day, one of his teachers even told his mother that none of the other children disliked Kakyoin but that he was unapproachable and just didn't seem to want to make any friends. His mother, saddened, admitted that even she didn't know much about her own son or understand why he was so withdrawn. Kakyoin observed the children around him writing down the names of their friends and thought about how the people around him had someone who could understand them. He felt even his own parents had each other but that they would never be able to relate to him. This caused him to become a withdrawn individual who felt different from others.
About 2–3 months prior to the start of Part 3, Kakyoin was approached by DIO while traveling in Egypt with his family. DIO, having sensed Kakyoin's Stand powers, asked for a demonstration which led to them fighting. When Kakyoin lost, he was brainwashed into following DIO's will via buds from DIO's own cells and given the mission to kill Jotaro Kujo. Kakyoin returned to Japan around the same time as Jotaro left prison and attended the same school as Jotaro.
Kakyoin carries out DIO's orders on his first meeting with Jotaro. He manipulates the school nurse with his Hierophant Green, using her to attack Jotaro, but Jotaro defeats him and ends up dragging him home, both considerably injured. Jotaro soon discovers that Kakyoin was under DIO's influence and uses Star Platinum to remove DIO's implant from Kakyoin's head - despite the risk that it might openly attack both of them. Kakyoin is freed from DIO's control as a result and joins Jotaro, Joseph Joestar and Muhammad Avdol on their trip to Egypt to fight DIO.
At the beginning of the trip, the group is attacked by Gray Fly, whose Tower of Gray proves to be a match even for Star Platinum. Trying to prevent the fight to take down the plane, Kakyoin knocks Gray Fly and volunteers to fight the Stand by himself, tearing it apart with his Stand.
In the trip Kakyoin proves to be a useful ally, but Joseph's Hermit Purple says that he is a spy, making everyone suspicious of him. In the end, it is revealed that the spy was actually Rubber Soul posing as Kakyoin, who separated from the group for unknown reasons. Returning to the group, Jotaro then tells Kakyoin about the battle and his impersonator.
When Jean Pierre Polnareff is attacked by Hol Horse and J. Geil he is saved by Kakyoin and Avdol, but not before the latter is almost killed. Kakyoin manages to discover Hanged Man's true ability and tricks the Stand into having only one place to go: a coin. This makes Polnareff be able to finally defeat him and avenge his sister.
In the desert, the group is attacked by Arabia Fats's Sun, who proves to be even more powerful than Hierophant Green and forces Kakyoin to cancel his attack on the Stand.
He also is the first to realize that Mannish Boy is a Stand user, and that his Stand attacks while the group is asleep. Though the rest of the group don't believe him and come to believe he has succumbed to stress, Kakyoin is ultimately able to defeat Death 13 inside a dream by bringing Hierophant Green with him. He then teaches Mannish Boy a lesson by mixing some of the baby's own poop with the baby food.
During the encounter with N'Doul's Stand Geb, Kakyoin is slashed across the eyes and put out of commission for a while.
"The Genesis of Universe: One-Way Trip from Desert To Hell"
Even with his injured eyes, getting worse with the sun, Kakyoin manages to save Avdol from Absalom's Satanic Coupler.
Kakyoin leaves the group to recover from his injuries at the Speedwagon Foundation hospital in Aswan. He returns just before the group finds DIO's mansion and is the first to face Telence T. D'Arby in a video game competition with his soul on the line. They play a racing game that Kakyoin is familiar with, and Kakyoin even uses Hierophant Green's speed and agility to accomplish complicated moves via the game controller. Ultimately, however, he loses and his soul is placed inside a small doll until Telence is defeated, at which point it is released again.
Later he confronts DIO and traps him inside a bound field of his Stand's tentacles. With this setup, he claims that he is able to detect and punish even the tiniest movement from DIO while being safely outside the range of his stand. However, The World's ability to stop time allows DIO to bypass the trap and deliver a fatal punch to Kakyoin through his abdomen. Before dying, he manages to leave a message in the form of a destroyed clock tower via his last Emerald Splash, enabling Joseph, Jotaro, and Polnareff to figure out DIO's Stand ability.
Kakyoin serves the same purpose in the Part 3 OVA as he does in the manga. That said, notable differences in regards to Kakyoin's appearance include his lack of pink hair and his cherry earrings being changed to nondescript string piercings.
His first battle with Jotaro Kujo is also altered to take place in a forest near the school, with Kakyoin's possession victim being a female student instead of the school nurse.
Unlike in the manga, Kakyoin and the others briefly take part in Jotaro's battle with Enya the Hag, with Kakyoin helping to dislodge a zombie baby from Jotaro's leg.
In the 1993 episodes, while Kakyoin rejoins the group during the assault on DIO's mansion, he does not do so until well after the group have come face to face with DIO himself, as opposed to the manga, where he joins them just before they enter through the front door.
Kakyoin appears as a support character for the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure world, where the player can talk to him in order to obtain some information.
Kakyoin is one of the 6 main playable characters. Much like the manga, the events from Kakyoin's debut makes him appear as an antagonist and fight against Jotaro (first using the School Nurse to attack Jotaro and then fighting by himself). After the battle Kakyoin joins the group and can be used as a playable character. During a fight Kakyoin uses Hierophant Green's elasticity to attack the opponents and its Emerald Splash as a super attack.
Unlike in the source material, one can keep Kakyoin alive all throughout the game, even avoiding his death at DIO's hands depending on if he has HP left after the battle.
Kakyoin appears as a playable character in the Capcom game, his gameplay is primarily designed for defense. A lot of his techniques reflect this; he also has limited forms of offense but plentiful techniques for striking back, punishing or even ticking. With the Stand activated, he can dash and double jump in the air. He also has one of the longest reaches in terms of physical attacks - particularly with his Stand attack.
In the arcade version, he has considerable offense power but is slightly slow. This was changed in the Playstation port, but at the price of losing damage strength. He also gained a new super move that helped him in his offensives. Additionally, his appearance with sunglasses (a result of his encounter with N'Doul) is named New Kakyoin or 恐怖を乗り越えた花京院 (lit. "Kakyoin who overcame his fears") in the Japanese version of the game, having different attack methods and physics offsetting him from the original.
It is noteworthy that even in the video games (excluding the Super Famicom RPG), especially in the fighting game made by Capcom, Kakyoin's fate in his own storyline is to die, whereas other characters have more pleasant endings (except Midler). However, because of how the dialogue was done in the game, some may argue that it could be open-ended, suggesting a possibility of his survival. The ending seems to imply that Kakyoin died on the trip home inside the airplane, possibly due to the wounds suffered in the battle with DIO, and him keeping quiet about it. This could be otherwise explained as fainting or severe weakening, in the absence of solid illustration that he did die. On the other hand, New Kakyoin's storyline in the game confirms his death, as it occurred in the original storyline from the manga.
The endings where Kakyoin survives the adventure are in Iggy's and Avdol's storylines. This is because DIO attacks Iggy or Avdol before going after Jotaro, Kakyoin, and Joseph.
Kakyoin appears as a special attack for Jotaro's 5-KOMA, where he shows up on the screen, ahead Jotaro and attack the enemies with Hierophant Green's Emerald Splash.
Kakyoin returns as Jotaro 5-KOMA's special attack. But he also appears during the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure world intro, along with the others Part 3: Stardust Crusaders protagonists.
Kakyoin, voiced by Kōji Yusa, returns as a playable character in the PS3 title.
Most of his attacks are similar to those from the Capcom game (Heritage for the Future). As one of the mass majority of playable characters in the game with the "Stand" Style, Kakyoin can turn Hierophant Green on/off, changing movesets, as well as having access to the Stand Rush ability returning from the Capcom game, being able to attack in conjunction with his Stand.
During a fight, Kakyoin can use several different attacks that were featured in Stardust Crusaders.
While Hierophant Green is off:
While Hierophant Green is on:
Kakyoin's normal attacks are different from others in that they can attack at medium and long ranges. Medium attack summons Hierophant Green to strike with its tentacle in a straight line, hitting at medium-long range and acting as a form of anti-air if performed while in mid-air. His Heavy attack sends out a short-ranged Emerald Splash, splays tentacles downward while in mid-air, or uses tentacles to knock the opponent upward while crouching.
Kakyoin's HHA, "Time for your punishment!", has Hierophant Green shoot out its tentacles from a high point at a downward angle. If it connects, Hierophant Green will enter the enemy's mouth and damage them internally with enough strength to force them into the air (similar to his assault on Death Thirteen).
Kakyoin's GHA is his "20m Radius Emerald Splash". Hierophant Green fires a large number of Emeralds covered in its tentacles. If they hit the opponent, Kakyoin deploys a 20m radius barrier field around them made of Hierophant Green's tentacles. The opponent is promptly sent bouncing around the field in all directions by a combination Hierophant Green's Emerald Splashes and its tentacles' slingshot properties, before being strung up. Hierophant Green takes this chance to charge an immensely powerful Emerald Splash and fires it at point-blank range (showing the ability's functions had DIO not stopped time and avoided it during the final battle of Part 3).
Kakyoin's battle introduction is him lowering his sunglasses before raising them back up (similar to his re-introduction to the group after his recovery from the hospital, minus the visible scars across his eyes). Kakyoin possesses an alternate costume based on his first appearance in the manga (with his hair slicked further back and him wearing his scarf).
Kakyoin is also a character who made an incredible achievement in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle League, being eliminated in the F Group. He was the character most voted to rejoin the League, coming back into G Group (notably composed of only antagonists) and won the battle afterwards, making his way to the finals.
Kakyoin's Metal Striker appears as one of the several available Part 3 Metal Strikers characters. His FINISH move causes Hierophant Green to appear and unleash an Emerald Splash on the defeated opponent.
Kakyoin was one of the first confirmed characters for the game (alongside Part 2 Joseph, Caesar, Stroheim, Jotaro, Josuke and Diego).
As a Stand User, Kakyoin is one of many characters with wildly varied abilities that grant him uniqueness in battle. Since most of the game's animation and attacks were re-used from All-Star Battle, Kakyoin's moveset remains the mostly the same: A distanced character who utilizes many ranged attacks and can set traps with Hierophant Green's Barrier. Kakyoin's normal attack combo consists of minor Emerald Splashes with finite range, both on the ground and in mid-air.
In the game's first demo, Kakyoin is Jotaro's default partner, with the latter being the only player-controlled fighter in the first demo.
Jotaro and Kakyoin are the only two characters who have appeared in both demos. Kakyoin is the only returning character in the game whose appearance in the anime has not affected his general color scheme coming from All-Star Battle, due to the anime using a very similar color scheme.
In the game's parallel continuity, Kakyoin, along with Avdol and Iggy, is resurrected from death under mysterious circumstances. Introduced along with the crusader's own revived enemy, N'Doul, he attacks Jotaro, Joseph and Polnareff on the rooftops of Cairo. After being defeated, Kakyoin's alignment is restored by a time-travelling Robert E. O. Speedwagon through use of the Saint's Corpse. Upon awakening, Kakyoin warns the group of DIO's weakness despite Jotaro having already defeated the vampire. Once he and the group learn of Speedwagon's origins, and the recent phenomenon caused by the corpses' appearance through the time and space, they decide to help Speedwagon to retrieve the corpse parts and recruit allies from various timelines.
At the end of Part 4's chapter, Kakyoin and the group meet up to discuss the true culprit behind the phenomenon. They are shocked to learn that it was DIO, deeming impossible for him to be revived and masterminding this event.
Because of the new reality introduced by the game, Kakyoin and his injured allies survive the fight against the godly foe and live on, though hospitalized for a while.
He is paired with Pannacotta Fugo in the Eyes of Heaven Tournament, but was eliminated in the preliminaries by Pet Shop and Kars.
In the semifinals, Kakyoin returns to the tournament, paired with Jotaro. However, they are eliminated by Kars and Pet Shop in the first round.
Kakyoin from JoJo 6251
Kakyoin's first appearance
"Take this instead of a handshake for making up with me... Polnareff"
Kakyoin healing from Geb's attack
Kakyoin reuniting with the group
Kakyoin's sudden defeat at the hands of The World
"Noriaki Kakyoin has died"
Kakyoin and the other fallen crusaders are remembered by Jotaro and Joseph
Kakyoin holding a marionette
Kakyoin with his Stand Hierophant Green
Kakyoin, Hierophant Green, and Tarot card representing "The Hierophant"
The Crusaders against DIO (sans Polnareff & Iggy)
Joestar Group in Egypt (sans Iggy)
Kakyoin wears pajamas in Death Thirteen's nightmare
Kakyoin wearing his sunglasses
Kakyoin (Glasses) with Hierophant Green
Kakyoin's sudden defeat at the hands of The World
Kakyoin's appearance in the OVA
Kakyoin with his sunglasses in the OVA
Key art for the anime
Key art for the OVA
Kakyoin's portrait from Heritage for the Future
Kakyoin's render in All-Star Battle
Kakyoin's infamous "cherry lick" as a taunt, ASB
Kakyoin activating his HHA, ASB
Kakyoin during his GHA, ASB
Kakyoin Costume A in All-Star Battle
All-Star Battle concept art
Kakyoin Render, Eyes of Heaven
Kakyoin attacking, Eyes of Heaven
Kakyoin's solo DHA in Eyes of Heaven
Teaser image for Kakyoin, Diamond Records
Kakyoin in Diamond Records
Kakyoin's Statue
Kakyoin's spritein Heritage for the Future
Noriaki Kakyoin (Idle Animation)
With Hierophant Green
Kakyoin wtih his Stand's color 2
Kakyoin wtih his Stand's color 3
Kakyoin wtih his Stand's color 4
Kakyoin wtih his Stand's color 5
New Kakyoin's portrait from Heritage for the Future
New Kakyoin's appearance in Heritage for the Future
New Kakyoin (Idle Animation)
With Hierophant Green
New Kakyoin with his Stand's color 2
New Kakyoin with his Stand's color 3
New Kakyoin with his Stand's color 4
New Kakyoin with his Stand's color 5
Kakyoin from the cover of JoJonium V12
Noriaki Kakyoin from the Super Action Statue series
2nd color
From the Statue Legend series
From the Super Figure Revolution series
2nd color
