Steel Ball Run (スティール・ボール・ラン, Sutīru Bōru Ran) is the seventh part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2004 and in Ultra Jump between 2005 and 2011.
Set in the U.S. in 1890, the story follows Johnny Joestar, a paraplegic ex-jockey, and Gyro Zeppeli, master in a mystic art named the Spin, as they compete with a vast number of others in the Steel Ball Run race: A mad-dash across America for a grand prize of 50 million dollars.
Transition
The Steel Ball Run Universe
Steel Ball Run describes a new continuity apart from that detailed in Parts I-VI of the series.
On top of core features to JoJo such as Stands, the story is marked by many references to the original series.
Transition to Ultra Jump
The story originally described as a "standalone alternative universe", after Chapter 23, Steel Ball Run transferred publication from Weekly Shonen Jump to seinen magazine Ultra Jump, upon which it was declared part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure canon.
In the monthly Ultra Jump, chapters are much longer. Perhaps coincidentally, between those chapters included in Volumes 7 – 8, Araki's style takes on greater realism.
Plot Summary
(Introduction)
Press Conference
The Steel Ball Run: Press Conference
For keeping English literature, Sandman is forced to flee his tribe. Momentarily outrunning pursuing horsemen; whilst escaping, another hand is seen separating from his right.
Away, in conversation with his sister, he indicates a multitude of perfectly hemispherical hand-sized depressions in a rock face; evidence of an impossible horseback leap; and the tool with which it is suggested that a white man made them.
He shows his sister a newspaper headline regarding the imminent Steel Ball Run race, with a grand prize of $50,000,000; as Steven Steel holds a press conference, giving the race's basic rules.
Corroborating several substantial cash prizes; starting September 25th 1890, there, on the Pacific San Diego beach; the race's goal is New York, in a distance of ~6000km, and a projected duration of ~70 days. The rules include that changing horses is not allowed; and though crime is not, weapons may be kept.
Gyro Zeppeli is introduced as he registers his entry. A man reaches and touches a Steel Ball at Gyro's waist before he is somehow forced to the ground, and it is revealed that he had taken $20 from Gyro's entry fee.
Gyro Zeppeli
Pocoloco is introduced as he notices the news of the race.
While he is being arrested, the thief continues to harass Gyro. Gyro offers a duel; and after striking his shoulder with a Steel Ball, when the thief attempts still to shoot him, his arm twists, and he shoots himself dead.
A man in a wheelchair observes that, incredibly, the Steel Ball was spinning throughout the event; and as he reaches and touches the same, still spinning Ball in Gyro's holster, he is raised to his feet.
In narration, the man introduces himself as Johnny Joestar; continuing, "This story is the tale of my beginning to walk"; or his growing into maturity.
Johnny Joestar
Johnny reflects on his reason for coming to the race start line, and on his youth as a new horse-racing talent.
An episode is recounted when he takes a date to see a play, and he cuts to the front of the queue. The man there protests, and after Johnny bribes the doormen to remove him, he reapproaches to shoot Johnny in the back.
Johnny awakens in a dark hospital, and after crying out, an orderly beats him; revealing that his legs are paralyzed, and that no one has visited, as the end of his fame.
In the present; Johnny is amazed as he stands and then falls back into his wheelchair. Gyro leaves, and Johnny desperately pursues, demanding explanation. Gyro tells him that it was a simple reflex; but, reaching out, just before or just as Johnny again touches a Steel Ball, his arm twists, and he is hung at his fingers on a nearby rafter.
Johnny resolves to discover the truth of this "Spin", and to enter the race in Gyro's pursuit.
3 Hours to Start
September 25, 1890 - 3 Hours to Start
Several hours before the beginning of the race, Gyro finishes to prepare his backpack. Going out of his tent, he witnesses Johnny trying without success to mount a horse he bought. Despite being hurt and battered, he persists, picking Gyro's interest.
Gyro then meets Sandman and indicates him where to go to subscribe to the race. Sandman participates to the Steel Ball Run claiming he win will the race by the strength of his legs alone.
The last preparations for the race begin. Steven Steel presents to the crowd the Steel Ball Run trophy, and all the 3,652 riders align at the start line.
Two minutes before the start of the race, Gyro sees Johnny's horse aproaching him, Johnny dragged off on the ground. Impressed by his determination, Gyro then gives Johnny a hint to mount his horse without legs, Johnny makes Slow Dancer lower his head, and does a backflip along its neck. Just as the announcer declares the start of the race, Johnny is now properly mounting Slow Dancer.
(First race)
First Stage: 15,000 Meters
At 10 A.M., September 25th 1890 the transamerican horse race Steel Ball Run begins.
Steel invites his special guests to follow the first stage of the race in a specially prepared train. As the racers begin to move, Steel explains the particular rules of the race: the Steel Ball Run is divided into nine stages, separated by checkpoint cities, where the staff can record the order at which the horseriders arrive, and for illegal activity during the race; the first racer to finish a stage is granted a bonus in cash an a time bonus of one hour which he can use at the final stage, rewarding their skill during that stage.
Gyro quickly jumps ahead of the group, following him closely are Diego Brando and Urm Abdul, the latter of which confronts him physically with his camel, trying to push Gyro's horse Valkyrie down. Gyro throws one of his steel balls and lures Abdul into a cluster of cacti, causing him to fall off his camel and be disqualified of the race. Johnny watches the steel ball and see that it revealed the cacti to Gyro well ahead, allowing Gyro to use them to his advantage.
The Dried-Up River: Diego Brando
Diego Brando is the next racer to challenge Gyro's first place. At the public's amazement, Diego closes up to Gyro without accelerating. Johnny soons notices that he in fact decrypted Valkyrie's weakness. As Gyro watches behind him to his right, he's surprised not to see Diego anymore. Diego suddenly reappears right to Valkyrie's left. As Diego slowly gets ahead, he explains that Valkyrie, like all horse, has tics, in this case, every eight expirations, the horse deviates to the left, thus slowing down a bit. By only accelerating in that precise moment, Diego managed to catch up without exhausting his horse. Without the required expertise in horseracing, Gyro is then condemned to stay behind. However, as they pass a bridge over a dried up river, Gyro instead uses his Spin ability to stimulate Valkyrie's legs, making it leap forward beyond the normal capacity of a horse, getting ahead once again and destroying the bridge. Diego now unable to cross the bridge, falls behind as other racers get past him by going down the dried up river instead.
Meanhile, Pocoloco wakes up from deep sleep, and realizes that he's late to the race. Quickly mounting his horse, his anxiety is shadowed by his amazement at how smooth the terrain was rendered by the thousands of horse racing on it.
Pocoloco and the Sandman
Pocoloco is worried that despite the prediction of his incredible luck, him waking up late contradicts that prediction. He is however reassured as random strokes of luck happen to him and he joins the bottom racers. A group of racers stands before a canyon, having blindly followed Sandman. Being a risky shortcut, only Sandman and Pocoloco dare leap across it and both succeed, Sandman due to his cimbing skills and Pocoloco thank to Sandman's advice of using the lasso as a climbing rope. He then joins the bulk of the racers.
At the 6,000 meters mark, Gyro decides to take a shortcut through a forest nearby, potentially gaining 800 to 1,000 meters at the risk of colliding with the trees and branches. Pocoloco and Johnny, as well as a group of racers follow Gyro into the forest. As they enter it, Pocoloco chooses to close his eyes and accelerate.
Crossing the Forest
Pocoloco has now an absolute trust in his luck and is convinced it will protect him as he crosses the forest. Several horseriders are thrown out of their horses, but Johnny and Pocoloco remain unharmed. His horse going at a higher pace, Pocoloco is in front of Johnny, who wrongly theorizes that Pocoloco trusts his horse's instincts not to collide with the branches. However Johnny's superior horseriding skills allow him get ahead. Disturbed, Pocoloco opens his eyes, only to have a branch apparently dismounting him.
Yet, Gyro sees a horse slowly gaining terrain against him, Pocoloco, only partially dismounted, is being dragged on the ground, and his horse navigates all the more easily within the forest without its rider on it. Thus Pocoloco catches up to the frontrunner.
Gyro uses his steel ball again to make a small tree spread open out of his path,. The branches then return to their initial position, propulsing Pocoloco back on his horse in the process. Now out of the forest, Gyro is now challenged by Pocoloco as they begin to go down a natural inclination.
Long, Long Downhill
The steep slope naturally forces any horserider to slow down for fear of their horses tripping. Yet Pocoloco accelerates, confident in his luck and beginning to see his stand Hey Yah!. His horse does trip, only to land on a cow's corpse, and sliding down the slope on it. Since Pocoloco is now ahead of Gyro and gains ground without tiring his horse, preserving stamina which will be crucial in the final stretch, Gyro tries to stop Pocoloco toward a nearby cliff, hoping that the ensuring rockslide will be in Pocoloco's way. He fails, and also makes Sandman nearly trip, as the Indian suddenly appears ahead of the group climbing down the cliff. Another turnabout ensues as now Sandman takes the first place in that stage.
The Final Stretch
Until now blocked by a rock formation, Steven Steel and his guest's view of the race is restored. And they discover with incredulity that Sandman is the frontrunner, going at a speed comparable to a horse, and using his superior mobility in rocky terrain to take shortcuts. Steels provides an explication of Sandman's running technique, which allows him to recycle the impact of his feet against the ground into energy for propelling himself forward, without damaging his legs.
Now at the 3rd place, Gyro decides to make his horse sprint well ahead of the recommended distance after such a race, 1,500 meters from the finish line, surprising Pocoloco and taking second place.
As the finish line appears in the horizon, the front runners group forms itself. Johnny is caught up by Diego, who was using the other racing as air pressure shields. Johnny forcefully breaks the pressure barrier, at Diego's surprise to see a horserider of comparable skill of his.
Diego stay close to Johnny, using him as an air pressure shield, but Johnny forcefully breaks away from him, using his horse to throw rocks at Diego while accelerating.
The race is now a mad dash in which only the horse's power counts. From the rocky hills emerges Sandman, visibly tired but well ahead of the rest of the racers, who nonetheless catch up. Counseled by Hey Hah!; Pocoloco drifts to the left, using a branch as a springboard and leaping ahead of the group. Still Gyro inexorably catches up to then seizes the first place, using his cape as a sail to catch the Santa Ana wind as a rear wind. The first stage finishes, a triumphant Gyro crossing the finish line first, in 18 minutes and seconds.
(Interim)
(Bonus) How the Race Got Started
Steven Steel's colorful past is explored. It reveals that the Steel Ball Run was first imagined by Lucy Steel, then a young girl who suggested the idea to a down-on-his-time Steel. Waking up from a drunken stupor, Steven Steel is then approached by a group of sponsors who were interested by the event, and proposed to finance it, making Steel rich again. Grateful for Lucy, and realising she looked like his first love, he proposes successfully to her.
Disqualified from Victory
The first stage ended, Gyro suddenly receives a penalty due to having endangered Sandman's life earlier in the race. He is relegated to the 21st place, receiving no points despite his victory. Steven Steel's agent also informs him that Gyro came from Italy, on a ship owned by a famous rich family, raising further questions about him. After exacting a petty revenge by ruining the party's champagn, Gyro accepts to have Johnny follow him and teaches him the first lesson of the Spin: what matters is the ball's rotation, the rotation is what caused the various effects witnessed up to this point; Gyro also teaches him to get down from his horse using the Spin.
Meanwhile, Steven Steel and his wife Lucy are brought to a crime scene, where three racers where violently eviscerated in the middle of the first stage. The Steel Ball Run's prize money has made the race a dangerous endeavor as an unscrupulous racer seems to target rival horseracers in order to win.
Sheriff's Request to Mountain Tim
The local Sheriff has called the horseracer Mountain Tim, a bounty hunter, to help. A short investigation leads Mountain Tim to suspect that the murderer didn't employ any ordinary method to kill the victims, and identifies their horseshoes.
The second stage of the Steel Ball Run begins, this time, the racers have to cross 1,200km of desert where they will face the temperature and dehydratation, how they cross it is up to them. Gyro diverts from the expected path, instead choosing to cross 150km of the desert bypassing the first of the indicated watersources in order to win. Johnny has no choice but to follow him. The duo are then followed by fellow racer Mrs Robinson.
Across the Arizona Desert
In the midle of the Arizona Desert, Gyro and Johnny are stalked by Mrs. Robinson. Without any reason to think he's trying to attack them, they let him be. Suddenly Gyro and Johnny are attacked by chollas, explosive cacti which can propel their thorns at high speed. Slowly cornered by the attack, Johnny is violently dismounted and Gyro confronts Mrs Robinson, defeating him promptly with the same chollas.
After finding Mrs Robinson's horse, Mountain Tim sees that he isn't the murderer as the horseshoes don' match.
The Desert Born Outlaws
Marco's history is revealed, he was a humble servant caught when his lord was arrested and is to be executed for false charges of treason.
At night, Johnny and Gyro make camp. Johnny having managed to reproduce the rotation with the cork. Johnny accidentally recovers newspapers linked to Marco's execution. They are approached by Andre Boom Boom, who claims he's been bitten by a poisonous lizard and needs help, in the process, Gyro kicks his knife away. They are soon joined by Andre's father and brother Benjamin and L.A., and Gyro realized that his leg was magnetized by the stand Tomb of the Boom. After a brief fight, Gyro and Johnny manage to flee, but are sprayed with Andre's blood.
Benjamin Boom Boom disguises himself as Johnny Joestar, confronting Mountain Tim who reveals his Stand Oh! Lonesome Me. Benjamin successfully plants some of his blood on Tim and pushes him to think Johnny is the murderer and rides to pursue him.
The Devil's Palm
Tim catches up to Johnny and Gyro, and the three of them realize that they are affected by the magnetism. Mountain Tim presents his power he calls a Stand, which he acquired by stepping into a Devil's Palm, a moving phenomenon granting people Stand. Benjamin Boom Boom uses his Stand to immobilize them and kill them. Johnny then awakens his own Stand Tusk, as they were in the Devil's Palm without realising it. Johnny kills Benjamin and incapacitate L.A., who reveals that they were hired to kill Gyro and is promptly left in the desert.
At Johnny's insistance, since Gyro is the cause of their troubles. He reveals his past to him. Gyro is a citizen of Naples, who learned the Spin from his father and worked as an executioner.
Gyro Zeppeli's Mission
Gyro objected at the little child's execution since he was unrelated to the crime, but he didn't have any way to stop it. One of the counselor he knew proposed him to participate to the Steel Ball Run, winning could bring Naples enough glory for the King to proclaim a general amnisty, otherwise the prize money was enough to pay for Marco's appeal. Gyro accepted.
Oyecomova arrives at a relay village where the racers are supposed to register to. He realises that Gyro, Johnny and Mountain Tim have arrived before him. Mountain Tim confronts Oyecomova but is incapacitated by his Stand Boku no Rhythm wo Kiitekure's explosive power. Oyecomova reveals then that he is after Gyro's head.
The Terrorist from a Far Country
Oyecomova's past is discussed: he was a terrorist from Gyro's country, and managed to escape to America. Upon hearing that Gyro would enter the race to represent Naples, he began to chase him down. The fight becomes a race toward the Zombie Horse, a healing item sent for Gyro. After a long pursuit up a river, a combination attack from Johnny and Gyro manages to take Oyecomova down, and the duo continue the race.
Interlude
The exact circumstances leading Gyro to wanting to appeal to Marco's execution are unveiled. After a prisoner revolts and Gyro was forced to restrain her, Marco took his pouch and tried to fix it, at the other executioner's anger but Gyro realized that Marco didn't deserve his sentence, leading him to him participating to the Steel Ball Run.
In the present, Gyro and Johnny retrieve to Zombie Horse, and heal Gyro's leg injury with it.
Tusk
A flashback presents Joseph of Arimathea, a man who descended Jesus Christ from the Cross. Joseph of Arimathea drew a map depicting an unknown land and several points of interest, said map remained hidden in an abbey until it was stolen during the 16th century an its whereabouts became unknown.
Johnny and Gyro are attacked by Fritz von Stroheim, who is quickly disposed of. Johnny is appalled at the frequency and violence of the attacks against them, saying that the money prize alone cannot justify these. Johnny suddenly realizes that his left arm contains a mummified arm,
Meanwhile Steven Steel enquires about Johnny and Gyro's whereabouts, especially if them found a mummified corpse. Funy Valentine, President of the United States, assures that Gyro Zeppeli must have found it, even unknowingly, declaring that the corpse is a treasure worth any riches in the world. Valentine also shows that Joseph of Arimathea's Map is in his possession. Lucy Steel barges in, inadvertently spilling coffee on Valentine. However, coffee and coffeepot briefly disappear before an empty coffeepot falls from the roof, revealing that one of Valentine's henchman was sitting above the train.
As they are about to reach Monument Valley, Gyro, then his horse, and his bags suddenly disappears, leaving Johnny alone and attacked by an unknown ability. Johnny realizes that two hooks are appearing from feathers falling off and seek to hook him up. The hooks only manage to take his bags as Johnny takes shelter under a rock. Johnny realizes that this aggressor, as well as every other terrorist attacking him and Gyro were after the arm he had with him.
Pork Pie Hat is revealed, Valentine's henchman searches Johnny's bags and concludes that the left arm is with Johnny. Pork Pie Hat uses beetles to hook Johnny up but before he can do anything, Tusk appears before Johnny and repels the attack with Johnny's spinning toenails, to his amazement. Tusk also tells Johnny the enigmatic phrase: "Movere Crus", before disappearing. Johnny concludes that the left arm was acting on its own, uncovers the Steel Ball Run's true purpose: retrieving the parts of someone's corpse. A small ditch thrown by Gyro throught the feathers indicates to Johnny his enemy's position.
Johnny slowly crawls to Pork Pie Hat's camp, hidden by dirt. Pork Pie Hat tries to make Johnny reveal himself, by hurling rocks at his general location, but finally uses his horse Slow Dancer so that it can smell Johnny. Localizing him, Pork Pie Hat set the zone on fire, an attacks a bait set up by Johnny. He sends his spinning nails throught the feathers, beating Pork Pie Hat.
When Johnny reaches Gyro, Pork Pie Hat hooks Johnny through Gyro, incapaciting both. Johnny is forced to give Pork Pie Hat the left arm, but the latter realizes too late that Gyro made the arm's nails spin too, killing him for good.
Johnny asks if Gyro is interested in the corpse too, but Gyro denies it. Asked about what the corpse is, Gyro theorises that it must belong to a Saint, as their relics have often been sought after, blessing their proprietors and the nations which owned them. As they seal their partnership, the duo see Diego and Sandman racing toward Monument Valley too.
Scary Monsters
As the final dash of the second stage between the top racers begins, Johnny witnesses the photograph of a mountain bearing the same form as the letters engraved on his arm, he distracts Gyro with it, leaving Diego taking the first place, Johnny the second place, Sandman the third place, and Gyro the fourth. Gyro's angry, but he cannot do anything about it as the race immediately moves on to the third stage: 517km through the Rocky Mountains.
Valentine examines a tissue Pork Pie Hat rolled the left arm within, deduces which limb it was and that Johnny was in fact sheltering it the whole time. Valentine reveals the Corpse's heart within him, which is seen by Lucy Steel. Valentine however doesn't know he's been watched.
Gyro and Johnny see Diego who's fallen off his horse and is visibly hurt. They are however violently rebuked. Later Diego joins them, surprisingly jovial toward them, an exhibiting surprising abilities such as an inhuman sense of hearing. As night falls the three of them take shelter in a village. Gyro wanders off from the group looking for food. Diego shows more and more strange symptoms, such as eating rocks or having his vision altered. Gyro alerts Johnny of a bear corpse just under their home's window, and they realize that Diego transformed into a dinosaur.
The raptor's kinetic vision gives him an edge against Gyro and Johnny's projectile based attacks, and they can only flee from the transformed Diego. However the whole village has transformed into various dinosaurs. A tyrannosaurus attacks Johnny but Gyro managed to hide him in a sewer by flattening his body with the Spin. They both realize that the next corpse part is hidden in the next mountain and resolve to go look for it.
Diego's backstory is revealed: at first buried alive as a baby then washed down into a river by a flood, his mother saw him and changed her mind, deciding to raise him as she runs to the river to pick him up. Swept away by the flooded river's flow, both were left to die by Diego's father, but survived. Then Diego passed his youth working at a farm, the bad treatment he and his mother received, notably his mother dying from an infection, left Diego resenting humanity as a whole and becoming ambitious to one day rule over those he hated. That ambition led him to search for glory in the Steel Ball Run.
In the sewer, Johnny and Gyro are marked by small dinosaurs, setting the whole village on their trail. As they exit the sewer on the side of a cliff, they see the whole village climbing or descending the cliff toward them. They realize that Gyro is slowly transforming into a dinosaur, and only the next corpse part's energy can counter the effect of that transformation. Johnny and Gyro jump over the ravine to the other side, discovering a Stand holding the Corpse's eyes but Diego catches up to them and seizes the eyes before them.
Diego having both Corpse eyes, Gyro now working with him as a semi-transformed dinosaur, Johnny is left alone. The Stand also informs Diego's of the next Corpse part's location. Dr. Ferninand makes his appearance and reveal that his Stand Scary Monster was controlling every dinosaur so far. Dr. Ferdinand hints at the Corpse's true identity, which is whose of someone even the Pope would have to defer to. Johnny abandons his left arm temporarily, and before he's controlled by Dr. Ferdinand, manages to toss one of the eyes to Gyro. Gyro is then cured, and acquires the new ability Scan. Both manage to incapacitate Dr. Ferdinand, who's eaten by cougars he transformed into raptors. However Diego escapes with one of the eyes, and retains his dinosaur abilities.
Later Gyro and Johnny join the top racers in yet another final rush to finish the third stage.
(Bonus) The Story of F. Valentine
During the Scary Monsters arc, a flashback reveals some of Funny Valentine's past. After surviving a trip into the desert, Valentine rose throught the political class of the United States, and while serving in the Congress, discovered Joseph of Arimathea's map. He then uncovered the meaning of this map, which indicated the whereabouts of the nine Corpse parts: the Torso, the Heart, the Left Arm, the Right Arm, the Spine, both Eyes, both Ears, both Legs and the Head. Then Presidnt of the United States, he sponsored Steven Steel's race to secretly uncover every Corpse part from the many racers who would be likely to come across them during the race.
Third Stage: Cannon City
During the final dash, three ways present themselves, one a safe one alongside a lake, another alongside the rocky cliff on the other side of the lake, the last being throught the lake itself, the shortest but which will exhaust the horses. Using his dinosaur senses, Diego analyses Valkyrie's behaviour and weaknesses. Gyro chooses to cross the lake, so does Diego, setting a duel between the two.
Johnny having known Gyro for a certain amount of time, declares that Gyro won't be the first of this stage, as Gyro lacks a proper drive to race unlike Diego. Gyro angrily rebukes Johnny, and desperately races behind Diego, abandoning bagages and even the water within his body to stay on the race. Diego cripples Valkyrie by spitting a gastrolith, the distraction allows Johnny to overtake Diego. However, Johnny isn't the first of the third stage, another racer, Hot Pants, crossing the line long before everyone else. Defeated, Gyro admits that he does lack the drive to win, relying too much on the power of the Spin alone.
A Man's World
The fourth stage begins: 1250km from the Colorado river to Kansas City. At 650km from Kansas City, Gyro and Johnny meet Hot Pants in a forest. Having taken some meat from a cow's corpse which belonged to Hot Pants, he accuses them of being cattle thief and attacks them, revealing his Stand Cream Starter. Johnny defuses the situation but Hot Pants doesn't apologize for the attack. Gyro used the occasion to scan Hot Pants' back, seeing the Corpse's Spine, and the world "Turbo". Coordinates are hidden in the word, leading Gyro and Johnny to locate the next Corpse's part in Kansas City.
After a while, Gyro and Johnny realize that they are lost. Hot Pants approaches them and proposes a truce for the time being, they go on to ask whoever inhabits a nearby house the way out of the forest. They cross fellow racer Gaucho, enraged at the house's inhabitant, who repeatedly told him that the way out of the forest would only come after he killed him. Gaucho shouts a challenge to him, and Ringo Roadagain comes out of the house.
Gaucho and Ringo begin to shoot at each other, but Ringo manages to land the first hit thanks to his knowledge about guns, and finishes Gaucho off to the trio's perplexity. They instead elect to find the way out by themselves. Still unable to get out of the forest, they decide to confront Ringo together, hoping to kill him. Hot Pants notably plants his Cream Starter on the roof of the house.
They meet Ringo burying the remains of Gaucho and ask him one last time to let them out of the forest. Ringo answers by suggesting to duel with Johnny first, finding Gyro to be a mere follower and thus unsuitable for the battles to the death he seeks. Gyro attacks Ringo, but he reveals his Stand Mandom which can rewind time by six seconds when he rewinds the watch on his right wrist, with the memories of the six seconds remaining within everyone. Hot Pants attacks Ringo by surprise but he manages to rewind time, evading Hot Pants' attack. Ensues a shootout in which Johnny receives a bullet to the head, Hot Pants one to the chest, leaving only Gyro seemingly alive. Ringo spares him, but witnessing one of his steel ball rolling toward him, Gyro realizes that Johnny's wound isn't fatal, there's hope that he survived the shot and Gyro finds in himself the drive to win.
Ringo Roadagain's backstory is revealed: he was once the sick child of an ostracized and impoverished family. One night, his mother and sister were killed by a desertor and he was nearly raped, only getting away by shooting the desertor. Ringo's sickness disappeared and he became a gunslinger seeking challenges to purify himself. Finally Funny Valentine employed him to retrieve the Corpse part from Johnny.
Chasing away the last doubts within him, Gyro clearly formulates his goals in this race: to discover whether Marco deserves his death sentence, and to discover the truth behind the Corpse. With a clear objective and not ideals in mind, Gyro challenges Ringo again. This time Gyro reveals that Ringo has a weakness, his left shoulder bearing an old wound which can kill him if the wound were to reopen. Both draw their weapons, and while Ringo kills Gyro, he is hit on the the shoulder and nearly dies himself. Rewinding time once again, Ringo protects his shoulder but is then impaledfrom behind by a splinter Gyro caused to fall the last time and whose trajectory was memorized by him. Gyro led Ringo under the splinter, and the splinter impales Ringo's left shoulder. Acknowledging his defeat and Gyro's growth, Ringo honors him and is finished off by Gyro.
The Green Tomb
At the 20th day of the 4th stage, there are 1920 racers left. Johnny and Gyro are a one day's ride from Kansas City. Johnny reminisces the fight between Gyro and Ringo, Gyro healed himself, Johnny and Hot Pants with Cream Starter, and unceremoniously leaves, as Johnny discovers that Hot Pants was secretly a woman but chooses no to reveal that. The dup crosses path with Pocoloco and Sandman, the latter of which warns Gyro of an incoming storm as a repayment for his technical victory in the first stage. Sandman also tells them that Diego took the routes with the least rivers, making Johnny realizes that Diego discovered the location of the next Corpse part, but also that Ringo sent a messenger pigeon to the American government.
Meanwhile Funny Valentine plots with his henchmen in Kansas City. Waiting for the messenger pigeon from Ringo, he covets the Corpse part, revealed to be the Spine, and summons Stand users to the city. Unbeknownst to Valentine, Lucy has been spying on him from across the street and thanks to her lips-reading skills, manages to understand what's happening. Witnessing Ringo's pigeon arriving on the roof, she infiltrates the governmental building under the pretense of giving Steven his mealbox and steals the message it carried. Almost surprised by Valentine and his henchman Blackmore,Lucy tries to hide but they both realises that someone infiltrated the building and seal it. Trapped, Lucy has no choice but to call Mountain Tim for help and they both escape. Lucy then departs Kansas City to go retrieve the Spine at a local landmark known as the Green Tomb.
Blackmore follows the call to Mountain Tim to interrogate him, however Mountaim Tim attacks Blackmore. Tim is killed by Blackmore after a brief encounter, bested by Blackmore's ability to control to surrounding raindrops: Catch the Rainbow. Blackmore discovers that Lucy Steel was most likely the culprit, and rushes toward her location as she uncovers the Spine.
As Diego, Johnny and Gyro ride toward the Green Tomb, Lucy is discovered by Blackmore..
Catch the Rainbow
Blackmore takes the Spine from here. Calling Valentine from a nearby telephone pole, he is distracted by a vision of Jesus Christ and his own greed toward the Corpse, allowing Lucy to shoot him and escape again. Exalted by the miracles he witnesses around him, Blackmore seals his fatal wounds with raindrops and pursues Lucy.
Meanwhile Gyro and Johnny are unable to get ahead of Diego. In the tempest Gyro and Johnny struggle to find the optimal path while Diego's enhanced senses help him. Gyro decides to challenge Diego anyway, and using his instincts to follow the path that he decided for himself, Gyro inadvertantly gets right behind Diego, having chosen the same path as Diego. Diego agresses Gyro's horse with transformed fleas, prompting Johnny to shoot at Diego. The British is finally defeated when Gyro throws a steel ball at him and Diego's horse Silver Bullet hurts its leg, throwing Diego out of the race. Gyro remains unssatisfied that his victory was made with Johnny's help, as he guesses Diego wasn't utterly defeated and will come back at them.
The duo then meets Lucy and Blackmore almost at the same time and a fight ensues. Catch the Rainbow immobilizes Johnny and Gyro, but the latter manages to throw a steel ball on Blackmore by evaporating some raindrops. Blackmore dies from his wounds, and the Spine enters Johnny's body as the weather calms itself, and the next Corpse part's location reveals itself to the duo.
Silent Way
Johnny and Gyro reach the finish line in Kansas City. The winner of the 4th stage is Norisuke Higashikata, a japanese racer. Gyro and Johnny witness Diego quietly finishing the 4th stage, and are certain that he hasn't abandoned the race just yet.
Earlier, Johnny, Gyro and Lucy see the next three Corpse parts' location. These are the ears, the right arm, and the legs. They decide to send Lucy steal the President's Heart, Gyro abandoning his Eye to enable this.
In the present, Diego meets with one of Valentine's henchman. He proposes a cooperation between them, revealing that he knows there's a traitor in his staff and that only he can detect him. Valentine reluctantly agrees and Diego is assigned another unknown Stand user.
The 5th and 6th stages begin, the Illinois Sky Line and the Michigan Lake Line which are 780km from Kansas City to Chicago and then 690km to Mackinaw City.
At 380km from Chicago, near the Mississipi, Gyro and Johnny are resting near a barn, figuring out how to cross the Mississipi. Gyro reveals that the Vatican answered to his enquiry about the Corpse part, and they deny any knowledge of its identity. Gyro suspects the Corpse's true identity, but their discussion is interrupted by a Stand Attack. Every item around them is trapped with several effect such as burning or cutting, and several modified dinosaurs attack them, hinting that Diego and someone else are attacking in unison. Both try to flee but they are cornered near the river.
Johnny reminisce his youth, notably how he blames himself for his brother Nicholas' death due to a stray mouse, and how his father never loved Johnny as much as Nicholas. Considering that the universe is making him pay for his assumed unwitting murder, Johnny loses hope as his Stand proves innefectual. An angry Gyro reminds him that Johnny isn't close to master the Spin and reveals him that there's another stage to the Spin.
Gyro introduces the Golden Rectangle, a natural and ubiquitous proportion which is used as a model to form a perfect an infinite rotation. As constructs corner both in the middle of a river, Johnny insists for Gyro to give him a model of Golden Rectangle to the latter's stubborn refusal. Gyro is gravely wounded and to Johnny desperation, Sandman stabs a nearby Norisuke Higashikata and reveals himself as their aggressor. Sandman reveals his name Soundman and his power to solidify sounds and reproduce what they correspond to. He also reveals that he collaborated with the President in exchange for his ancestor's lands.On the brink of despair, Johnny realizes that the Golden Rectangle is present in the environment and upgrades Tusk to Act 2.
Tusk Act 2 makes his nails spin around his finger like a drill, augmenting their penetrative strength but the nails regrow more slowly, moreover the holes caused by the nails last a while and can target the enemy. Sandman is surprised by the new power. A shootout ensues, Johnny trying to kill Sandman before he runs out of nails and Sandman rushing toward Johnny to kill him. A gravely wounded Sandman is then shot in the neck with a steel ball Johnny made from Gyro's belt and dies.
Johnny is victorious, but in his weakened state, he cannot efend himself against Hot Pants who steals all the Corpse parts but is kind enough to heal both and leave Johnny with a fraction of the Spine.
(Bonus) Untitled Stand Chapter
The bonus chapter is an explanation about Stands and their rules. Araki links the spontaneous apparition and disparition of particles as a potential in the universe. Human fulfill that potential by materializing their spiritual energy into Stands. Some of the property of Stands, such as their possible appearances and the rules they are subject to are explained.
Lastly, Araki explains that items and techniques such as the Stone Mask, the Ripple, or the Spin were tools who emulate the power of the Stands.
Sugar Mountain
At the beginning of the 6th stage, Gyro wakes up covered in snow. As Johnny discovers new properties of Tusk Act 2 and resume their conversation about the Corpse, Gyro notices that 11 horses are nearing them, with unnatural synchronization. Gyro notices that the steel ball he used to detect the horses has disappeared. A young girl appears before them, with the steel ball in hand, and runs off. Johnny and Gyro follow her up to a massive tree in which the girl, named Sugar Mountain, has made home. Sugar Mountain propose them various items the duo made fall into various ponds earlier with a more precious version of each such as gems in stead of the steel ball. Gyro understands the meaning of these propositions and manages to seize the Ears plus various precious good. However before they leave, Sugar Mountain warns the horseracers that they have to spend or exchange fairly everything they have before the sun sets lest they are absorbed into the tree and will serve as guardians, liberating the next emprisoned people which happen to be Sugar Mountain's parents. Gyro and Johnny decie to head to the city, and acquire the Right Arm.
In the city the duo has difficulty spending everything, and the amont of goods they receive only increases with time. Besides the 11 horsemen are closing on them. Gyro decides to spend everything in a shady casino. Their game is interrupted by the 11 men who initiate a shootout inside the casino. They all wield the same stand which allows them to transfer themselves between each other's bodies. Johnny's ten nails and Gyro's two steel balls aren't enough to overcome all 11, but Gyro gets both out of their predicament by paying the gangsters they were playing against for protection, which costs them all of their money and goods.
The sun sets and Gyro suddenly transforms himself into branches, Johnny realizes they haven't given the Corpse Parts away. Johnny hesitates between his friend and the Corpse he's coveted for so long, but gives the Corpse parts to the last of the 11 men for a bottle of wine, spending everything. Sugar Mountain and her parents prepare to leave the tree, she notes that Johnny and Gyro have proven themselves worthy of the Corpse, having been able to give up everything, even the most precious goods they had. Defeated, Gyro and Johnny have a toast to the next Corpse part and victory.
Tubular Bells
Near the Michigan Lake, Diego meets with a mysterious man from the Government, asking him the traitor's description. Diego reveals that the traitor is a woman weighting 51 kg, At the governmental residence in Chicago, the man, Mike O, chief of Valentine's security, reveals everything to Valentine, who authorizes the questioning of every woman associated with the government and the Steel Ball Run.
Lucy sees that the search is closing in on her, and takes the initiative by approaching the First Lady Scarlet Valentine. With soporifics given by Hot Pants, Lucy manages to approach Valentine while he's asleep, but Mike O. automatic scent tracking balloon animals made from nails intercept her. A furious Scarlet tries to kill Lucy too, but Lucy manages to use Scarlet as a decoy, making the balloons kill her instead.
As Hot Pants come to the rescue, Lucy is discovered by Mike O. and a fight ensues between the two Stand users, in which Mike explodes his throat trying to blow up more balloons while infected with Cream Starter. Hot Pants cannot make Lucy escape and Lucy is forced to disguise as Scarlet and Hot Pants departs with the Ears and Heart, leaving the Right Arm which was too big for her escape.
Wrecking Ball
Two agents of the US Government are introduced watching over the frozen straits which separate the two sides of the Michigan Lake.
Wekapipo's past is explored: once a member of the royal guard of the Kingdom of Naples, Wekapipo broke his sister's marriage on the premise that she was beaten blind. Furious her husband defies Wekapipo and is subsequently killed in their duel. However, Wekapipo is forced into exile by Gregorio Zeppeli and enters Valentine's service a broken man, having heard of her sister's death.
Johnny and Gyro are looking over the strait, searching for the Indian's path, a path made by the locals consisting a reinforced ice and wood. Unable to find it, they nonetheless cross the strait over a dangerously thin ice, a wolf following them for seemingly no reason. In the middle of the strait, they are attacked by Wekapipo with a steel ball in which several other smaller spherical satellites are encased named Wrecking Ball: Its effect is to make everything's left side disappear.
The next part of the fight consists of Gyro and Johnny defending themselves from both Wekapipo and Magent Magent sneaking in their dead angle. Their ordeal is complicated by Magent's invulnerability power 20th Century Boy. While Wekapipo suspects that the wolf is hosting the Legs, Johnny and Gyro realize that in th frozen environment, they cannot see the Golden Rectangle. Moreover, Gyro's hands which are able to reproduce it are targeted by Wekapipo. When Magent kills the wolf, they realizes that the Legs are nearby.
Using one of Magent's pistol bullet, Gyro is able to critically injure Magent Magent and take him out of the fight, however Gyro and Johnny's Spins are inferior to Wekapipo's giving him the edge in the battle. Gyro closes in on the wolf's corpse to use it or the Legs as models for the Golden Spin, but Wekapipo sinks the body into the lake. Johnny is unable to shoot all of the satellites, and Gyro must face Wekapipo with effectively one steel ball and no Golden Rectangle. At the last moment, snowflakes appear before Gyro and he is able to use them to reproduce the Golden Spin, winning the duel.
Several flashbacks have been reminding Gyro of the uncertainty of life, notably the possibility of both failing and succeding, as well as of miracles happening. Gyro was a doctor for Wekapipo's sister, and saved her life. She was left alone by the husband's family who thought she was dead. The revelation that his sister lives prompt Wekapipo to help them find Lucy. Moreover Johnny finds the Indian's path which will facilitate their crossing, and they obtain the legs.
The Victor's Rights
The chapter's first part consist of a thoughrout description of Johnny and Gyro's daily routine in the Steel Ball Run and how they race across different weather condition and landscapes. The description transitions into the last dash of the 6th stage, in which Johnny and Gyro are racing against Pocoloco. Hey Yah! guides him out of the way of a rift, but Gyro and Johnny cooperate to cross it directly with a makeshift steel rope made from a ball, effectively beating Pocoloco's luck.
Gyro finishes the 6th stage at the first place and Johnny at the 2nd place.
Meanwhile Magent Magent who was left for dead in the straits crawl back to civilization. Having overheard Wekapipo and Gyro's conversation, he knows that the traitor is Lucy Steel.
Civil War
A flashback details the discovery of "Lucy Steel" 's body from the Fox River. A distraught Steven sees her corpse but is convinced that the woman before her isn't Lucy.
At the 12th day of the 7th stage, 145km West of Philadelphia, Gyro and Johnny surprise Hot Pants racing toward a nearby city. Leaving some of their luggage behind, notably Gyro's teddybear and Johnny's damaged knife, they pursue Hot Pants up to a local garbage dump inside a building. They meet a nun instead, and hile Gyro checks the next room, Johnny recognizes Hot Pants, who warns him "not to abandon anything".
Gyro and Johnny are attacked simultaneously by various objects they have left behind, notably the teddybear and knife, who fuse with them and covering them both in a membrane. A flashback exposes Hot Pants' past, in which having secretly let her brother being devoured by a bear deeply traumatized her and made her covet the Corpse to absolve herself of her sin. Hot Pants is then completely covered in the membrane and disappears. Johnny, warned to purify himself with water to dissolve the membrane, manages to escape the first attack. At the same time, accusing apparition of Nicholas Joestar and Danny attack Johnny who wards them off.
Suddenly a mysterious man warns Johnny "not to shoot if he doubts, then a new path will open to him". A puzzled Johnny realizes that his legs are twitching and goes back to the garbage dump.
Axl Ro, a government agent, lured Gyro and Johnny with Hot Pants, from whom he stole every Corpse part and with his Stand: Civil War, materializes the object of their guilt, among others things they've left behind. Johnny realizes he is witnessing an apparition of Jesus Christ, but at the same moment, George Joestar attacks him. Johnny is unwilling to attack him, and on the verge of being overhelmed, Gyro warns him of Axl Ro's location thanks to a Steel Ball, and Johnny manages to fatally shoot Axl Ro through the garbage.
Surprisingly, Axl Ro is satisfied, the last property of Civil War is transfer someone's sin to their killer, ressucitating them in the process. Axl Ro's sin of letting an entire town and garrison perish because he failed in his watch is transferred to Johnny. Dismembered by the apparitions of soldiers, Johnny realizes who he has to shoot and shoot himself, entering the hole his nails create.
A Dream of Gettysburg
Combining the penetrative property of his shooting nails and the Spin, Tusk Act 3 creates a space within the hole in which Johnny can travel through, widening the ways he can attack. Axl Ro has nonetheless reconstituted the Holy Corpse save from the Head and the Eyes, having stolen Johnny's Legs and the remnant of the Spine, and proceed to flee the dump. Thanks to Act 3, Johnny grabs the Corpse and tries to wrestle it out of Axl Ro's hands, forcing him to stab Johnny in the throat. Johnny is then absolved of his sins.
Before Johnny can force Axl Ro to give him the Corpse, the latter is shot in the chest, and Funny Valentine reveals himself. Having non fatallly attacked Axl Ro outside of the garbage dump, no sin is transferred to him and Valentine ceizes the Thorax, the Heart, the Spine, both Legs, both Arms, and both Ears.
Johnny tries to shoot Valentine but the latter is already long gone. Diego having the Left Eye, and the Head's wereabouts being still unknown, Valentine deduces that the traitor who infiltrated his residence is still alive with the Right Eye.
Both Sides Now
The 28th of Decomber 1890 3:51 PM, Gyro and Johnny enter Philadelphia and finish the 7th stage at the 6th and 7th place. Seeing that Diego is once again a serious contestant, having finished that stage at the 1st place, they decide to confront him and steal the Left Eye from him. The 8th stage begins, a 140km race from Philadephia to New Jersey.
A little before 2:45 PM, Steven Steel ruminates in his coach, still convinced that his wife isn't dead. Comparing a recent photo of the First Lady and one of Lucy, Steel concludes that somehw she disguised herself as Scarlet Valentine. However he is immediately shot in the chest by Magent Magent, as Steel is no longer of any use to Valentine's plan. Soon after Wekapipo approaches Steel's coach in the hopes that he can help him find Lucy. He discovers instead Steven gravely, but not fatally wounded. Magent tries to ambush Wekapipo but fails, and a fight at the top of the coach ensues as the startled horses begin to gallop in the streets. Wekapipo discovers too that Lucy is disguied as the First Lady, and resolves to kill Magent Magent before going to the Independence Hall.
Meanwhile Valentine and a disguised Lucy play the violin in the Independence Hall. Valentine forces himself on Scarlett, commenting of her charming manners, but unbeknownst to him, the Right Eye is rolling toward a room next to theirs.
A flashback details the past of Lucy Steel née Pendleton. Her father was a farmer who indebted himself with the mafia. The mafia had a policy to take only one thing from his clients and the father chose to sell them a then 12-years-old Lucy. At the same time, Steven Steel came before him and proposed Lucy in marriage. Being told that Lucy was the Mafia's property, Steel proceed to bluff them by telling them he took her virginity already and marries Lucy at the price of a small scandal about their age difference. Grateful, Lucy developed a deep emotional yet platonic bond with Steven.
Intrigued by his wife's strange behaviour, Valentine decides to check the next room. For fear that he discovers the Right Eye, Lucy tries to distract Valentine by asking him why he's following the race so closely. Valentine then exposes his philosophy that one needs the respect of the people to have power, and that by the end of the race he will have the means to force the respect of the entire world. Aroused, Valentine tries to rape his wife's impersonator, not caring who they really are, but when Lucy reveals herself, Valentine is stunned and is stabbed in the throat with a knife. Agonizing, Valentine mysteriously disappears when a chair falls over him. He then reappears safe and sound, to Lucy's horror.
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Lucy tries to hide from Valentine in the next room, and accidentally finds the Corpse, which fuses with her. When Valentine breaks into the room, he realizes Lucy is the host for the Head.
Meanwhile, Wekapipo and Magent Magent's fight continues. When Magent Magent tries to blow himself up, both are thrown into the Delaware, hurting Wekapipo but not Magent thanks to his powers. However Magent is tied up by Spin-imbued cables, and falls at the bottom of the river, unable to move since he would drown. Wekapipo Wekapipo sees a dinosaur come out of Magent's clothes, and realizes Diego will learn of Lucy's identity.
Seven Days in a Week
Gyro tells Johnny a joke, reciting the days of the week while acting progressively crazier, at Sunday, he regains his calm. Johnny notes the jokes and comments that it's really good.
Chocolate Disco
At 15h59 near a park south of the Independence Hall, Johnny and Gyro spot Diego and Wekapipo following him. Johnny notices an unidentified horsehoe trail but doesn't suspect anything. While Gyro tries to approach Diego's position and Johnny watches from afar, Johnny sees that Gyro, at the corner of a building, is being surrounded by both President Funny Valentine and his henchman DISCO from both direction. Johnny tries to warn Gyro but mysteriously, Gyro doesn't hear him. Suddenly Johnny is shot by an unknown party, and barely escapes in the sewers with Tusk Act 3.
Gyro notices Johnny's absence, and sees that one enemy has retreated. Warning DISCO not to do anything, Gyro rushes toward his horse and Johnny. A grid appears on the ground and a startled Gyro throws a steel ball toward DISCO, which mysteriously teleports above Gyro and hits him instead. Disco then opens a bottle of acid and pours it on the ground.
D4C (Part 1)
Ticket to Ride
D4C (Part 2)
D4C -Love Train-
Ball Breaker
Break My Heart, Break Your Heart
High Voltage
The World of the Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes - Outro
After being disqualified from the Steel Ball Run following his fight with Dio from Another Universe, Johnny Joestar boards a boat where he meets his future wife Rina Higashikata
Characters & Stands
Minor Characters
- See also Minor Characters § Part VII: Steel Ball Run and Unnamed Characters § Part VII: Steel Ball Run
| Character Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Urmd Avdol | Neutral |
| Dot Han | Neutral |
| Gaucho | Neutral |
| Nicholas Joestar | Ally |
| Jesus | Neutral |
Major Battles
Chapters
Steel Ball Run consists of 95 chapters, compiled into Volumes 1 to 24 of the Jump Comics collected editions. The left column consists of the titles from the volumes. The right column consists of the titles from the Weekly Shonen Jump release of Part VII until Chapter 24, when it switches over to Ultra Jump.[1][2]
Gallery
- SBR Volumes 1-24 Spine.png
Volumes 1 through 24 spine art
Part VII End picture
Trivia
- Part VII marks the first time since Part II: Battle Tendency that a Zeppeli is featured, and the first in which a character besides a JoJo is purported to be the main protagonist.
- This arrangement changes when Part VII is revealed to stand within the JoJo continuity and Johnny Joestar's role expands.
- Steel Ball Run (and its eponymous race) appears to be named after the film The Cannonball Run; also characterized by an American cross-country race populated by eccentrics.