- Eyes: Purple
- Hair: Blond
- Outfits:
- Green button shirt with a yellow stripe pattern and a periwinkle suit with a yellow tie.
Yoshikage Kira (吉良 吉影, Kira Yoshikage) is the main antagonist of the fourth part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Diamond is Unbreakable, as well as the third main antagonist of the series overall. He also appears as the main protagonist of the short story Deadman's Questions.
Unnoticed in Morioh for years and undisturbed all his life, Yoshikage Kira is an abnormal and paraphilic serial killer whose murderous routine is shaken when the ghost of his first victim, Reimi Sugimoto, begs the living to look for him. Upon attracting unwanted attention by killing Shigekiyo Yangu, Josuke and the others sets their sights on Kira in order to put an end to his killing spree.
Kira is a Stand user and wields the powerful Killer Queen to create deadly bombs.
Yoshikage Kira has a medium build and average height.[3] He has light hair, loosely combed with a few strands out of place. He wears a light Valentino[8] suit and a dark tie patterned by a column of skull emblems with upright, cat-like ears, similar to those on his Stand, Killer Queen. As a salaryman by profession, he wears a similar suit throughout the series, though he usually takes off his jacket at home.
Kira adopts one face other than his original one in Part 4, and a ghostly body resembling his original, with a unique outfit, after this. He remains a man of average height and slim to athletic build.
When Kosaku Kawajiri is killed, Kira assumes his facial features, including his spiky black hair, thin, large dark irises, and higher cheekbones. He retains his suit, changing only his tie to his normal Skull tie.
After being hit by the Arrow and receiving Killer Queen's third bomb, Kira's hairstyle spontaneously changes, becoming perfectly combed back, light, and striped by black strands.
Shortly after he dies, as a ghost, he retains Kosaku's features for a few moments before reverting to his original appearance, which he retains in Deadman's Questions. Henceforth, he adopts an elaborate outfit consisting of a dark bowler hat with an upturned brim and a tie, both patterned by concentric squares, and a shirtless, dark, lapelless suit.
Kira is a serial killer, characterized as highly egocentric and psychopathic, with a few obsessive-compulsive tendencies. He dislikes any changes in his daily physical condition or routine. He takes the same route every day, puts on his clothes in the same order, and eats at the same time and in the same sequence. He is also a hand fetishist.[3]
Kira longs for a peaceful and quiet life, safe from any worry, and does not wish for it to be interrupted. Whenever that life seems assured, Kira adopts a jolly and confident demeanor.[9][10] Although he is highly intelligent and possesses many talents, this yearning shows in his dislike of coming in first, and Jotaro theorizes from his many trophies that he even made it a point to never rank better than 3rd in any competition so as not to stand out.[5] Since his youth, Kira has been avoiding standing out, living a healthy life, and following a strict regimen.[7] He becomes bothered when someone disrupts his habits and goes to extreme lengths to get them back. As his father pointed out, his obsession with staying in the background was so intense that if bullied or denied his favorite toy, Kira would bite his nails until they bled, being the only way he could express his frustration.[11]
Beneath his facade of a simple, humble salaryman, Kira is very abnormal; his most abnormal characteristic being his frequent and periodic murderous impulses. Kira targets women, or, more specifically, women with beautiful hands. He possesses a hand fetish, which he discovered when he found himself aroused by the Mona Lisa's hands.[12] However, his desire has never extended to the rest of the female person and he otherwise shuns their presence.[9] This results in murdering random women, not caring in the least how they look or behave, to acquire their severed hands as "girlfriends". He acts as if the severed hands are sentient and converses with them, even offering them various gifts.[13] When one "girlfriend" begins to decay, he disposes of it and goes off in search of a replacement.[9] Kira is an opportunistic killer, his modus operandi being spotting a potential victim, following her to her house, and murdering her when both are isolated.[14][15] Due to his Stand leaving no trace of their victim behind, these murders are reported as missing persons. Moreover, Kira has expressed various other similarly violent impulses such as the desire to choke his victims to death[16] and has scarred at least Reimi Sugimoto.[17]
Apart from his murders, Kira is particularly violent when someone threatens his way of life or publicly humiliates him. Since Kira doesn't want to be noticed, he will try everything to solve his problems without facing anyone directly. However, if he doesn't have any other choice, he will instantly try to kill whoever discovers his true nature.[7] Kira is quick to drop his polite demeanor, rudely insulting his foes or violently beating them before killing them. After Koichi's Echoes ACT3 results in Kira making a fool of himself in public and attracting unwanted attention, Kira goes on his way to torture and humiliate Koichi, putting his shoe into his mouth and slamming his face against the ground.[18] Kira has a hard time controlling these violent impulses, as seen when Hayato Kawajiri threatened to blackmail him. Kira lost his calm attitude and murdered Hayato in an enormous lapse in judgment.[11]
Kira is also afflicted with several other quirks. Apart from his wish for a monotonous and tranquil life, Kira's OCD also makes him very meticulous and thorough. Kira has sophisticated tastes, notably buying his lunch at the best store in town[9] as well as wearing Valentino suits.[8] He doesn't tolerate any imperfection and is even willing to waste time fixing Koichi's socks instead of fleeing the scene, as he could not stand seeing them being worn inside-out.[18] Furthermore, during his time as Kosaku Kawajiri, Kira made sure to perfectly mimic his new identity in every way, notably Kosaku's hand-writing,[16] which he trained himself to do conscientiously. Kira's solitary nature is partially stemmed from his disgust with people who don't behave as properly as he does. Kira's favorite fashion brand is Gianfranco Ferré.[2]
Kira is also an egocentric and selfish man, akin to a spoiled child. He doesn't care that his crimes involve murder and make his victim's relatives suffer. He only seeks to satisfy his basic instincts. In addition, Kira is determined to preserve his lifestyle, and being set back only increases his determination. Kira is also quick to shift the blame to someone else for his troubles, notably Josuke and his allies, for ruining his life.[16] Kira possesses a twisted pride in having managed to mix his tranquil lifestyle and his serial murders for so long, and categorically refused to flee the town and live in fear, preferring to maintain a shaky façade of normal life with the Kawajiri's.[11]
In addition, while normally a very cautious, meticulous man who ensures he leaves no evidence behind, there are a few occasions where he becomes overconfident and lets his guard down, and each time has led him to a confrontation with Josuke and the others or defeat at their hands. He puts his "girlfriend's" hand in a sandwich bag and fails to notice Shigechi's presence as Shigechi comes to take the sandwich bag, thinking it is his,[9] which eventually leads to Kira being found out. In addition, Kira leaves his jacket with a tailor at Centipede Shoes alongside his real name, forcing Kira to confront Jotaro and Koichi.[19] He is overconfident in his Sheer Heart Attack by believing it is invincible and leaves,[20] but is forced to return to the scene of his crime when Koichi manages to subdue Sheer Heart Attack. In addition, he lets his guard down near a wounded Jotaro, allowing Jotaro the opportunity to beat him.
After being pierced with the Arrow a second time, Kira's demeanor becomes much more relaxed and prone to elation due to his new-found power, which guarantees that anyone approaching Hayato Kawajiri would be killed. When he is overconfident he has beaten Hayato in his attempt to stop him, Kira blurts out his real name in front of Josuke by mistake, which Hayato had planned.[21]
Kira believes that he has luck and fate on his side, exposing a superstitious façade, claiming that whenever faced with an obstacle he will be able to make it through with a combination of hard work and opportunity. He measures and collects his fingernail clippings, using them to predict his murdering luck off on their length.[5]
During his confrontation with the Stand Stray Cat, Kira expresses a desire to protect his "wife," Shinobu Kawajiri, and even shows relief at her safety. The feeling confuses him, but Kira rationalizes it as simply not wanting to arouse suspicion.[22]
As a ghost, Kira loses all memory of his previous life, including his temptation to kill. However, his desire for a peaceful existence and his latent brutality remains.[23]
Kira's Stand, Killer Queen, is a humanoid, short-range Stand with the unique ability to cleanly, and completely, wipe out objects and people alike with targeted explosions. This ability manifests itself as three distinct forms, or 'bombs'.
Bomb Transmutation (Primary Bomb): Killer Queen can charge any object into a bomb simply by touching it. The Stand can then manually detonate the charged object, causing powerful explosions.
Sheer Heart Attack (Secondary Bomb): Sheer Heart Attack is an autonomous entity that detaches from Killer Queen's left hand. It is a mobile, heat-seeking bomb that is extremely durable and leaves massive explosions in its wake.
Killer Queen Bites the Dust (Tertiary Bomb): Created by a second pierce of the Arrow, Bites the Dust is an independent bomb that implants Killer Queen into a host body. If the host reveals Kira's true identity in any way, willingly or unwillingly, Bites the Dust will trigger, and any investigators will be blown up before a time loop commences that sends everyone back an hour. Kira is unable to use this ability on himself, however.
After gaining Bites the Dust, Kira keeps Stray Cat in a hollow space within Killer Queen's abdomen. With Killer Queen's Primary Bomb charging Stray Cat's condensed air bubbles, Kira may create invisible, speedy air bombs (空気弾, Kūki-dan) to use as projectiles. Although no one, not even Kira, can see these bombs, the latter is skilled in determining their trajectory using basic mathematical skills.
Despite the power of his Stand, Killer Queen, Kira's passivity led to an over-reliance on its powers to the detriment of actual mastery.
Up until his appearance, Kira has avoided fighting at all, leading to a laissez-faire approach to Stand battles. Although he did personally kill Shigekiyo Yangu and knows a great deal about the subtleties of Killer Queen, he then let Sheer Heart Attack take care of two Stand Users, leading to an unexpected defeat and almost leading to his capture. He then became overconfident in Bites the Dust's invincibility, again leaving ample opportunity for Hayato to seek a loophole. Kira's tendency to hide and avoid instead of confronting his foes has left him no time to show any imagination in using his Stand.
However, thanks to his intellect and "lucky" meeting with Stray Cat, Kira could sublimate Killer Queen's power to create a deadly long-range combination of Stand abilities.
Part 4 didn't start with a clear final boss in mind. Hirohiko Araki envisioned Josuke facing off against various creepy entities in town, and through battles with characters like Angelo and Keicho Nijimura, Yoshikage Kira eventually emerged as a further evolution of those foes. Serial killer stories were popular at the time, such as The Silence of the Lambs film, featuring the sadistic killer Hannibal Lecter, and Encyclopaedia of Murder by Colin Wilson and Patricia Pitman, which documented true murder cases. Kira was inspired by those stories where ordinary-looking unremarkable individuals turn out to be killers.[3]
When creating Kira, Araki didn't just consider how Kira would contrast with Josuke, but also with DIO. Japan's bubble economy had just ended and Araki felt that flashy and larger-than-life characters like DIO who were typical of that era would no longer feel appropriate. Rather than being an ultimate evil charismatic villain, he made Kira a subtle, lurking terror who blends into ordinary life. Araki stated that someone like DIO wouldn't exist in real life, but Kira can, which makes him terrifying.[3]
Araki thought of a backstory for Kira which would portray Kira's abusive relationship with his mother and neglect from his father. Kira's backstory wasn't included in the manga both because it was serialized in a magazine for a younger audience and Araki felt Kira would end up being a very sad villain so readers wouldn't see him as the enemy.[1][25] However, Araki stated that if he were to depict Kira in the modern era, he would likely delve deeper into what made him so evil and gave him a twisted personality, including more of his upbringing and family relationships.[26]
According to an interview with Araki, the idea to have Kira take over Kosaku's life while Hayato suspects his "father" of being replaced was inspired by the Philip K. Dick novel, The Father-thing.[1]
Araki approached David Production during the start of Part 4's anime, suggesting that they should include Kira in several background foreshadowings early on in the part, mainly because he initially didn't know who would end up being the main villain of the story until later on when Kira was introduced.[27]
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure | |
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Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan | |
Other Araki Works | |
Light Novels & Misc |
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (JoJos) | |
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Other Araki Works | |
Light Novels & Misc |
Supernatural Beings | |
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Vampires | |
Zombies and other Undead | |
Pillar Men | |
Ghosts | |
Rock Organisms (Rock Humans) | |
Miscellaneous |
Yoshikage Kira (吉良 吉影, Kira Yoshikage) is the main antagonist of Diamond is Unbreakable.
Kira is a paraphilic serial killer who has been lurking unnoticed in Morioh for years. Having lived undisturbed all his life, Kira's routine is shaken when the ghost of his first victim Reimi Sugimoto begs the Joestar Group to look for him and he attracts unwanted attention by murdering Shigekiyo Yangu. Kira is a Stand User and wields Killer Queen to create deadly bombs.
Kira is also the protagonist of the short story Dead Man's Questions.
Yoshikage Kira has light, loosely combed back hair with a few strands out of place. He wears a light Valentino[1] suit and a dark tie patterned by a column of skull emblems with upright, cat-like ears, similar to those on his Stand, Killer Queen. As a salesman by profession, he wears a similar suit throughout the series, though he usually takes off his jacket at home.
Kira adopts one face other than his original one in Part 4, and a ghostly body resembling his original, with a unique outfit, after this. He remains a man of average height and slim to athletic build.
When Kosaku Kawajiri (川尻 浩作, Kawajiri Kōsaku) is killed, Kira assumes his facial features, including his spiky black hair, thin, large dark irises, and higher cheekbones. He retains his suit, changing only his tie to his normal Skull tie.
After being hit by the Arrow and receiving Killer Queen's third bomb, Kira's hairstyle spontaneously changes, becoming perfectly combed back, light, and striped by black strands.
Immediately after his death, as a ghost, he retains Kosaku's features for a few moments before reverting to his original appearance, which he retains in Dead Man's Questions.
Henceforth, he adopts an elaborate outfit consisting of a dark bowler hat with an upturned brim and a tie, both patterned by concentric squares, and a shirtless, dark, lapelless suit.
Kira is a serial killer, characterized as highly egocentric and psychopathic, with a few obsessive-compulsive tendencies. He is also a hand fetishist.
Kira longs for a peaceful life, safe from any worry, and does not wish for it to be interrupted. Whenever that peaceful life seems assured, Kira adopts a jolly and confident demeanor.[2][3] Although he is highly intelligent and possesses many talents, this yearning shows in his dislike of coming in first, and Jotaro theorizes from his many trophies that he even made it a point to never rank better than 3rd in any competition so as not to stand out.[4] Since his youth, Kira has been avoiding standing out, living a healthy life and following a strict regimen.[5] He becomes bothered when someone disrupts his habits and goes to extreme lengths to get it back. As his father pointed out, this will to stay in the background was so bad that if bullied or denied his favorite toy, Kira would bite his nails until they bled, being the only way he's found to express his frustration.[6]
However, beneath his façade of a simple, humble salaryman, Kira is very abnormal. The most abnormal characteristic of Kira is his frequent and periodic murderous impulses. Kira targets women, or, more specifically, women with beautiful hands. Kira possesses a hand fetish, which he discovered when he found himself aroused by the Mona Lisa's hands.[7] However, his desire has never extended to the rest of the female person and he otherwise shuns their presence.[2] This results in murdering random women, not caring in the least how they look like or behave, in order to acquire their (severed) hands as "girlfriends", acting as if the severed hands were actually sentient and conversing with them, even offering them various gifts.[8] When one "girlfriend" begins to decay, he disposes of it and goes off in search of a replacement.[2] Kira is an opportunistic killer, his modus operandi being spotting a potential victim, following her to her house, and murdering her when both are isolated.[9][10] His Stand erasing any proof, these murders are actually reported as missing persons. Moreover, Kira has expressed various other similarly violent impulses such as the desire to choke his victims to death[11] and has horribly scarred at least Reimi Sugimoto.[12]
Apart from his murders, Kira is particularly violent when someone threatens his way of life or publicly humiliates him. Since Kira doesn't want to be noticed, he will try everything to solve his problems without facing anyone directly. However, if he doesn't have any other choice, he will instantly try to kill whoever discovers his true nature.[5] Kira is quick to drop his polite demeanor, rudely insulting his foes or violently beating them before killing them. After Koichi's Echoes ACT 3 results in Kira making a fool of himself in public and attracting unwanted attention, Kira went on his way to torture and humiliate Koichi, putting his shoe into his mouth and slamming his face against the ground.[13] Kira has a hard time controlling these impulses, as seen when Hayato Kawajiri threatened to blackmail him. Kira lost his calm attitude and murdered him despite knowing he couldn't afford such a mistake.[6]
Kira is also afflicted with a number of other quirks. Apart from his wish for a monotonous and tranquil life, Kira's OCD also makes him very meticulous and thorough. Kira has sophisticated tastes, notably buying his lunch at the best store in town[2] as well as wearing Valentino suits.[14] He doesn't tolerate any imperfection and is even willing to lose time fixing Koichi's socks, becoming agitated when he sees them being worn inside-out.[13] Furthermore, during his time as Kosaku Kawajiri, Kira made sure to perfectly mimic his new identity in every way, notably Kosaku's hand-writing,[11] which he trained himself to do conscientiously. Kira's solitary nature is partially stemmed from his disgust of people who don't behave as properly as he does.
Kira is also an egocentric and selfish man, akin to a spoiled child. He doesn't care that is crimes involve murder and make his victim's relatives suffer. He only seeks to satisfy his basic instincts. In addition, Kira is determined to preserve his lifestyle, and being set back only increases his determination. Kira is also quick to shift the blame to someone else for his troubles, notably the Joestar group, for ruining his life.[11] Kira possesses a twisted pride in having managed to mix his tranquil lifestyle and his serial murders for so long, and categorically refused to flee the town and live in fear, preferring to maintain a shaky façade of normal life with the Kawajiri's.[6]
In addition, while normally a very cautious meticulous man who ensures he leaves no evidence behind, there are a few occasions where he becomes overconfident and lets his guard down, and each time has led him to a confrontation with the Joestar group or defeat at their hands. He once put his "girlfriend hand" in a sandwich bag and failed to notice Shigechi's presence as he came to take the sandwich bag, thinking it was his.[2] This would lead him to his first confrontation with the Joestar group. In addition, he left his jacket to a tailor at Centipede shoes and left his real name, forcing him to confront them.[15] He was overconfident in his Sheer Heart Attack, believing it was invincible and leaving the scene[16] but was forced to return to the scene of his crime when Koichi managed to subdue Sheer Heart Attack. In addition, he let his guard down near a wounded Jotaro, allowing Jotaro the opportunity to beat him. Finally, when he was overconfident he had beaten Hayato Kawajiri in his attempt to stop him, he blurted out his real name in front of Josuke by mistake, which Hayato had planned.[17]
Kira believes that he has luck and fate on his side, exposing a superstitious façade, claiming that whenever faced with an obstacle he will be able to make it through with a combination of hard work and opportunity. He measures and collects his own fingernail clippings, using them to predict his murdering luck off of their length.[4]
When Kira was pierced with the Arrow, his demeanor became much more relaxed and prone to elation due to his new-found power, which guaranteed that anyone approaching Hayato would be killed. Ecstatic to possess a power which would dispose of anyone who investigated him, Kira allowed himself one loud boast, which caused his downfall as Josuke overheard him claiming to be "Yoshikage Kira".[17]
During his confrontation with the Stand Stray Cat, Kira expressed a desire to protect his "wife" Shinobu Kawajiri and even showed relief at her safety; A feeling that confused him, and Kira rationalized it as him merely not wanting to arouse suspicion. Whether these feelings were genuine or not is left unanswered.[18]
As a ghost, Kira lost all memory of his previous life and has thus lost his temptation to kill. However, his desire for a peaceful existence and his latent brutality remained.[19]
Kira's Stand is Killer Queen, a humanoid, short-range Stand with the unique ability to cleanly and completely obliterate objects with targeted explosions. This ability takes three forms that Kira names Bomb #1, #2, and #3.
After developing Bomb #3, Kira keeps Stray Cat in Killer Queen's abdomen. With Killer Queen's Primary Bomb charging Stray Cat's condensed air bubbles, Kira may create invisible, speedy air bombs (空気弾, Kūki-dan) to use as projectiles. Although he cannot see these bombs, he is skilled in determining their trajectory using basic mathematical skills.
Despite the power of his Stand Killer Queen, Kira's passivity led to an overreliance on its powers to the detriment of actual mastery.
Up until his appearance, Kira has avoided fighting at all, leading to a laissez-faire approach to Stand battles. Although he did personally kill Shigekiyo Yangu and knows a great deal about the subtleties of Killer Queen, he then let Sheer Heart Attack take care of two Stand Users, leading to an unexpected defeat and almost leading to his capture. He then became overconfident in Bites the Dust's invincibility, again leaving ample opportunity for Hayato to seek a loophole. Kira's tendency to hide and avoid instead of confronting his foes has left him no time to show any imagination in using his Stand.
However thanks to his intellect and "lucky" meeting with Stray Cat, Kira could sublimate Killer Queen's power to create a deadly long-range combination of Stand abilities.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure | |
---|---|
Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan | |
Other Araki Works | |
Light Novels & Misc |
Supernatural Beings | |
---|---|
Vampires | |
Zombies and other Undead | |
Pillar Men | |
Ghosts | |
Rock Organisms (Rock Humans) | |
Miscellaneous |