Diavolo/History

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  • DiavoloAv.png
  • Alternate UniverseJorgeDiavoloAv.png

SPOILER WARNING: Part 5 spoiler details may follow.
For the alternate personality of Diavolo, see Vinegar Doppio.
I must crush my fear! Now is the time... I must overcome it right now! That is what it means to live!

Diavolo (ディアボロ, Diaboro) is the main antagonist of the fifth part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Vento Aureo, as well as the fourth main antagonist of the series overall.

He is only known to most as the boss of Passione, which corrupts Naples by dealing drugs in the streets, making him both Giorno Giovanna and Bruno Bucciarati's superior and their greatest enemy. He is also Trish Una's father, and orders Team Bucciarati to deliver her to him whilst keeping her safe from the traitorous La Squadra Esecuzioni. Because of his obsession with secrecy, almost no one knows his appearance, name, or background.

Diavolo is a Stand user who wields the incredibly powerful King Crimson in battle. He is later revealed to be the alternate personality of Vinegar Doppio, with whom he is able to share part of his Stand.

Appearance

Diavolo anime.png

Diavolo is a veritably tall man in his 30s with a lean and semi-muscular build. In his first appearance, covered in shadow in all but his glaring eyes, he appears to have short, combed back straight hair and is wearing a suit and tie.

His appearance is drastically altered when fully revealed: Diavolo has long hair, dyed with various spots in a leopard pattern[7] and parted in a zig-zagging manner. His bangs are propped and parted slightly to the side, and the rest of his hair is cut straight across at his shoulders. In earlier depictions, varying amounts of Diavolo's hair were cut straight, inconsistently ranging from small locks to the entirety of his hair. His shirt, hidden under Doppio's sweater, appears to be made of complex mesh-wiring: it covers his shoulders and torso but down his back and abdomen are linked circles that are tucked under his belt, which in the back end in two or three long "coat tails". On his arms are an elegantly designed paisley floral pattern that begins at the shoulder and leads down the forearm to a pair of wristbands. He also shares a pair of studded pants and seemingly sock-less loafers with Doppio.

His eyes are unique as his irises are "fragmented", forming as spots and shards of whole irides with a triangular shaped highlight to them. However, while Bucciarati is in control of his body, they become normal with circular highlights.

His appearance differs greatly while operating as his alter-ego, Doppio. As Doppio is a completely separate soul sharing a body with Diavolo, they even have different muscular builds.

Color Schemes

The series is known for alternating colors between media, the information presented below may or may not be canon.
Skin(Fair, black lipstick)
Hair(Pink with burgundy spots)
Eyes
(Black, or red when Bucciarati controls his body)
Outfit
(Black mesh shirt with purple pants and brown wristbands, shoes, and belt.)
Skin(Fair, purple lipstick)
Hair
(Pink-to-magenta gradient with dark green spots)
Eyes(Lime Green)
Outfit
(Black mesh shirt with purple pants, green wristbands and belt, and blue shoes.)
Skin(Fair, wine red lipstick)
Hair(Pink with black spots)
Eyes(Black)
Outfit
(Black mesh shirt with purple pants, brown wristbands and belt, and khaki shoes.)
Skin(Fair, dark purple lipstick)
Hair(Pink with crimson spots)
Eyes(Black)
Outfit
(Black mesh shirt with indigo pants and shoes, green wristbands, and a gray belt.)
Skin(Fair, dark magenta lipstick)
Hair(Magenta with blood-red spots)
Eyes(Black)
Outfit
(Black mesh shirt with purple pants and shoes, olive green wristbands, and a gray belt.)

Personality

The past... even when you break it to pieces and emtomb it in stone, it crawls out like a worm.
—Diavolo, Chapter 570: His Name Is Diavolo, Part 2
Subordinates never interact directly with Diavolo, not even capos

The biggest personality trait Diavolo shows is his obsession with erasing any trace of his history and keeping his identity a secret from the world, a compulsion he will fulfill by any means necessary. As he believes the mistakes of the past, or simply the past itself, is something to be defeated and destroyed in order for human beings to grow, he is exceptionally anxious about his own past, linking it to fear, and being apprehensive of anyone learning of him. Even in the already secretive Passione hierarchy, Diavolo goes to excessive lengths to completely hide his identity, issuing orders through several proxies or by computer so that nobody ever meets him personally. Diavolo lives most of his life in the shadows, hinted to perpetually travel across Italy hidden in Doppio, his alternate personality, and sleep in motel and hotel rooms exclusively. This compulsive trait of erasing his past is also an allegory to the inherent imperfection in King Crimson, specifically Epitaph's ability; while he can see into the future so as to avoid any mistakes, Diavolo's Stand ability cannot erase any low points or 'ebbs' in his life that have already occurred, forcing him to try to fix his errors through his own personal, manual efforts.

Diavolo will violently protect his secrets

Diavolo has a violent tendency to hunt and kill those who try to uncover any kind of his personal information, or are merely susceptible to lead his enemies to him, as shown by his will to kill even his own family if it means keeping his identity safe - something highly vocalized through his attempts to murder his daughter whom had never even met Diavolo herself and only knew things her mother passed down. However, this is partially justified since family members within the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure universe share a mystic spiritual link, with Diavolo and Trish being able to sense each other's souls and know where the other is as well as if they are alive.[5][8] Nevertheless, Diavolo is sufficiently pragmatic not to go on a killing spree every time he's about to be discovered, notably only using his power to confuse a hotel cleaning maid just for as long as he needs to erase any trace of his presence.[9] That being said, as soon as he learns of a Passione member trying to investigate him, they will be dubbed as traitors and made examples of his wrath and absolute power. The most notable examples are Sorbet and Gelato, whom Diavolo had killed, and in the case of Sorbet particularly, he was cut into pieces and framed in formalin, then delivered to La Squadra Esecuzioni as a grim warning of the fate awaiting potential traitors. Diavolo is also persistent in keeping himself a secret even from Doppio, his most trusted subordinate and alter-ego.

His pride hurt, Diavolo dashes to confront Giorno with the Arrow

His second most prominent personality trait is his pride and confidence, firstly in his nigh-invincible Stand King Crimson, then in himself. Operating under a philosophy that King Crimson makes him invincible because it allows him to see the "pitfalls" in the future and avoid them, and allows him to manipulate Fate and reality by choosing to nullify arbitrarily chosen events, he justifiably boasts about King Crimson's power regularly. Diavolo notably claims that anyone's actions before King Crimson are vain, which is true to a degree. Secondly, Diavolo is intimately convinced of his innate superiority over humanity. Using epithets such as "Emperor" or "King of Kings", or like other main antagonists in the series, and using the prefix I or Me (この,  kono) to announce his name in a sign of superiority over others. The mob boss doesn't doubt that he is fated to remain at the top, or 'apex' as he describes it, forever.[10] This disproportionate pride is not only derived from his idea that people grow from defeating their past (and therefore, he has grown much due to his constant attempts at erasing any type of history of his), it is also backed by the firm belief that he was blessed by Fate. Diavolo's past involved extremely unusual circumstances, such as an unnaturally long pregnancy in an all-female prison, making his birth nothing short of a miracle, then him finding six Arrows which would grant him his extraordinarily powerful Stand as well as his massive wealth. As an extension of the idea that he is blessed by Fate, Diavolo considers himself extremely lucky as well. He readily accepts any difficulty as a "test" he'll have to overcome to prove himself as standing above everyone, and though he can be subject to anxiousness or despair, his pride will prevail and he will constantly choose to directly confront whatever problem he has. This causes him to foolishly face Gold Experience Requiem head-on, although he did foresee Giorno Giovanna's death and had no idea of his new powers. Against the newly-evolved Stand, Diavolo's confidence crumbled when it countered his time erasure and prediction abilities and left him powerless. When he found himself trapped in an endless death loop, unable to do anything about his situation, Diavolo panicked and his last appearance in the story has him frightened by an approaching little girl; his pride, confidence, and to varying degrees, sanity being completely crushed by his everlasting fatalities.

Other than his own philosophy of defeating the past so as to mature, Diavolo also lives by another thematic philosophy that results are the only things that matter in the world. As a decisive and assertive crime boss, Diavolo doesn't hesitate to take shortcuts or directly involve himself with troublesome matters if those actions are the quickest and easiest paths to an end. King Crimson's ability is an echo of this, and maybe the source of it, leaving nothing but the outcomes of situations, specifically those he himself sees fit to keep. He abuses his Stand's power as a means to produce the most favorable conclusions to his problems, and at the same time, boldly prove his philosophy's claim to anyone that he confronts. Diavolo shows a degree of prioritization for these results and answers as well, notably when he, upon meeting with Polnareff whom he thought he killed years ago, only questions him as to why he would have an Arrow before attacking once more, rather than how he learned the name of the boss of Passione, or even how he managed to survive being thrown off a cliff into rocky waters.[11]

Diavolo's punishments are so horrible even gangsters will be intimidated

For Diavolo, keeping stability within Passione is secondary to maintaining power and his status as the boss; a mentality that eventually realizes the corruption of Naples, worsens the city's drug problem, and ultimately, leads to the rousal of Giorno Giovanna into joining the gang seeking to dethrone their boss. Diavolo only commands the obedience of his subordinates through greed or fear, causing the organization to even be corrupted within itself, members turning against each other, and multiple people to plot against him. Diavolo is also unforgiving of those he considers enemies, most especially traitors. Should anyone try to approach his alter ego Doppio and pry too much on his past, Diavolo violently rebukes them. For instance, he violently murdered a fortune teller that correctly divined his history.[12] He has proven capable of restraint, as he told Doppio to spare a taxi driver after realizing that he hadn't seen the photo of Donatella Una that he was attempting to hide.[13]

Diavolo has also demonstrated an inability to empathize or even understand other people's emotions and morals, especially those righteous, as well as an inability to properly interact with anyone, due in no small part to his overwhelming pride and antisocial secretiveness. When Bucciarati revolts, Diavolo openly theorizes that Bucciarati merely wanted to overthrow him or was opportunistic in his presence, without considering that hurting his own daughter deeply angered Bucciarati. When interacting with others, Diavolo tends to act rather respectfully for his opponents and subordinates if they are obedient and competent. He compliments both Risotto and Bucciarati for their resourcefulness during their battles, and offers Risotto an honorable death.[14] On a smaller scale, he compliments a fortune teller capable of accurately deriving his past as being "the best of the best" and gave a brutal yet painless death. However, Diavolo is also domineering and aggressive, taking his thoughts for absolute truths and ordering his interlocutor around; When he is angry, he is prone to shout insults and issue death threats.

Diavolo quickly killing Polnareff in one punch

Diavolo approaches fights coldly, only considering confrontations as chores to be completed to maintain his supremacy. Diavolo favors eliminating his victims quickly using his King Crimson to confuse them and kill them in a single move. As seen with Bucciarati, Diavolo is shown slightly amused (or at least his Stand is) by the futile efforts of his opponents and boasts regularly about his perceived invincibility. A pragmatic man, Diavolo still approaches the situation carefully, especially when Doppio is in command, and cannot use his full power. In an unadvantageous situation, Diavolo is patient, carefully undermining the enemy before using one critical attack, making him a most dangerous enemy during any battle, regardless of King Crimson's time erasure.

During his youth, the teenager named Diavolo was described as dim and timid, but well-meaning. He also expressed his wish to become a sailor, and even acquired a girlfriend. All the same, his secretiveness and ruthlessness were already present: on top of falsifying his identity to his girlfriend, he took the measure of binding and burying his own mother beneath the floor of his room. When the latter was discovered, Diavolo even burnt his home village to the ground simply to conceal his past crimes.[2]

Abilities

Stand

Main article: King Crimson

Diavolo's Stand is King Crimson, an extremely powerful Stand with tremendous physical strength and the ability to erase time up to a 10 seconds time frame as well as predict anything that happens over the following 10 seconds. Although it has some limitations, King Crimson renders him essentially invincible in a fight as he can either foresee and counter the enemy's actions or render them meaningless by erasing the timeframe in which they happen.

King Crimson (キング・クリムゾン)Link to this section
KingCrimsonAv.png
PWR
A
SPD
A
RNG
E
STA
E
PRC
?
DEV
?

Double Personality

Doppio turning into Diavolo

Diavolo and Doppio are two souls that inhabit the same body. As a result, they can switch their personalities as well as their physical appearance.[15] Compared to Diavolo, Doppio appears a lot younger and is described by a fortuneteller as looking too young to have children.[12] Diavolo appears to be a lot taller, as well as more muscular. When he takes over, Doppio's freckles disappear, his voice deepens, and his hair is seemingly a different length. According to Diavolo, it takes a couple of seconds for him to completely take over Doppio's body.[16]

While Doppio is in control, Diavolo has quite a few abilities, border-lining omniscience. He was able to tell that the taxi driver didn't see the picture of Donatella that Doppio was carrying, despite his subordinate's beliefs, and was later able to see the lurking Risotto.
Diavolo communicating with Doppio
Diavolo also seems to be able to manipulate Doppio's memories, as Diavolo remembers everything and can see everything that happens to Doppio but not vice versa, although it's unknown how much of this is based on Doppio's possible poor memory.

Diavolo can communicate with Doppio through any kind of object while not in control, granting his subordinate the belief that his alter ego is another person altogether. Although these calls aren't actually audible to anyone else, Doppio can always hear his alter ego's voice through the object, which he assumes is a phone.

Soul Manipulation

Diavolo is for unknown reasons, exceptionally knowledgeable about souls and their mechanisms, and is also equally skilled at manipulating his own soul.

Diavolo shows uncommon knowledge about souls, for instance being able to tell the near dying Bucciarati's state and then correctly guess that he can only see souls. Knowing that the souls of family members have the same "scent", Diavolo is able to grant a shard of his soul to Doppio to disguise himself as Trish's soul. Moreover, under Chariot Requiem's influence, Diavolo has been able to control in which body he could go, although he otherwise couldn't freely control it. Although Diavolo could exert subtle control of his own soul, he remains subject to the powers of soul-manipulating Stands such as Chariot Requiem.

Throughout the entirety of the battle against Chariot Requiem, Diavolo's soul takes the form of King Crimson, and speaks and emotes completely through it.

Spiritual Connection

As Trish Una's father, Diavolo has a spiritual connection to her. By instinct, he can sense that she is indeed his daughter and was able to feel that she was alive despite being informed that the plane she was on had crashed.

Intelligence

Diavolo's status as the Boss in the Passione hierarchy

Diavolo is a gifted tactician and is generally more intelligent than average. As proof of Diavolo's abilities, the Boss has built a powerful gang with influence spreading across Italy in a matter of years. To avoid his enemies spying on him, Diavolo has proved to be imaginative in delivering his orders, using proxies, computers, dead drops, or even exploiting his subordinates' Stand abilities so only they could access the messages.

During a fight, Diavolo usually relies on his King Crimson's power and favors straightforward tactics like erasing time and positioning himself for a fatal strike. However, Diavolo has also shown to be rather observant, taking note of any event and keeping tabs on his enemies' abilities. He notably predicted that Giorno Giovanna's wit would become a real nuisance to his plans and trod carefully with him. Diavolo also kept observing the apparently defeated Team Bucciarati from afar and managed to correctly analyze their state of mind and subsequently roughly guess their goals. Finally, Diavolo was the first and only one person to be observant enough to see the mechanisms of Chariot Requiem and guess its weak points, enabling him to disable the Stand effortlessly.

Diavolo has shown to be able of thinking on his feet, not panicking when he was chased by Bruno Bucciarati and Narancia Ghirga in a body deprived of hemoglobin and quickly using the surrounding fauna to replenish his blood. He also subsequently exploited this opportunity to assassinate Leone Abbacchio. Likewise in Rome, an accidental meeting with Bruno was exploited by him to approach Polnareff and assassinate him. Diavolo's arguably most effective tactic was during his confrontation against Risotto Nero, during which he exploited both the presence of Team Bucciarati, Risotto's own scalpels, and his own weakened state to manipulate Aerosmith into shooting only Risotto and turn the tables against the assassin.

Personal

Though never demonstrated, Diavolo can fluently speak Sardinian.[17]

Relationships

Alter Ego

  • Diavolo to Doppio: Although in most cases it's self-preservation and survival (assuming killing Doppio would kill Diavolo, or vice versa), Diavolo seems to have a lot of affection for Doppio: he put Doppio in a very dangerous position of being the underboss instead of a usual subordinate, he often gave Doppio directions to being successful and even warned him to keep away from Nero and encouraged him to flee, and most peculiar of all, he has a habit of sometimes calling Doppio "[his] (cute) Doppio" with a more down-to-earth "watashi" (わたし) pronoun.  Noticeably, when Chariot Requiem activates and Doppio is shot multiple times by Mista, Diavolo almost immediately destroys and impales Narancia on a gate, instantly killing him, and begins to attempt more murders - before it happened, Diavolo was perfectly hidden away and everyone assumed Diavolo was in Bucciarati's body. On the other hand, Diavolo doesn't spend a single thought for Doppio whom he left for dead in Bucciarati's body.
  • Doppio to Diavolo: While Doppio never learned the truth between themselves, he highly respects Diavolo and always called him "Boss" - though, whether or not Doppio knew Diavolo's name is unknown. Doppio also seems to be Diavolo's gofer, something he takes pride in considering how loyal he was to a point of stubbornness, and he seemed heed most of Diavolo's orders when he remembered them. According to Doppio himself before his death, Diavolo had told him that staying in Bucciarati's body would be dangerous and decided to move, leaving Doppio to his fate.

Family

  • Donatella Una: Although the specifics of their relationship are unknown, outside of Diavolo never talking about himself and going by the false name of "Solid Naso," it can be inferred that it was largely positive on both sides. Diavolo took a picture of Donatella once, which she kept throughout the years (although he becomes enraged upon learning that it still exists). Interestingly enough, Diavolo never attempted to have Donatella executed despite his ruthlessness. Likewise, Donatella loved Diavolo and told her daughter good things about him (though she only knew the lies he told her), and it's known that as Donatella died from her illness, she wished to see her lover again.
  • Trish Una: Diavolo remains unaware of Trish's existence until Donatella passes away and Squadra Esecuzioni begins searching for clues to their former employer's identity. Diavolo realizes that their bond of blood allows him to sense her presence (the bonds of family being a reoccurring supernatural force in the world of JoJo). Immediately realizing that she could sense him as well and jeopardize his anonymity, he set in motion a plan to kill her with his own hands and used Bucciarati's group as pawns to bring her to him without letting the traitors capture her. When she stops him from obtaining the Arrow during the final battle, he responds by cursing her existence and having King Crimson punch clean through her stomach in a final unsuccessful attempt to kill her. Afterward, Diavolo would mockingly thank Trish for giving him the courage to attack Giorno Giovanna, as she revealed to her allies that Diavolo was attempting to run away, tempering his pride.
  • Mother: Diavolo's mother was incarcerated at the time of his birth, and remained so for the first eight years of his childhood. At some point, Diavolo met his mother and, for unknown reasons, sewed her mouth shut before binding and burying her beneath the floor of his room.
  • Foster father: As a child born in prison, Diavolo was adopted by a priest in a Sardinian village, and grew up under his care. The priest was supportive of Diavolo's decision to become a sailor, and even decided to build a garage for him after seeing him and a woman on a date. However, this would also cause his death, as when he was digging into the concrete, he uncovered Diavolo's mother. That same night, the Sardinian village was burned to the ground, with the priest among the casualties.

Enemies

You are the very definition of nauseating evil! You abuse the innocent and unknowing! All for your own personal benefit!
Bucciarati angrily describing Diavolo, Chapter 517: Bruno Bucciarati's Childhood

Team Bucciarati

  • Giorno Giovanna: Giorno planned to take down Diavolo since the beginning due to Passione's corruption of Naples, which included an agenda of drug trafficking affecting even children. Because of this, Diavolo retaliated and made Giorno a high-priority target. The two became bitter enemies over the course of Part 5, with Diavolo having invoked Giorno's anger during their confrontation after the death of Narancia, and Giorno helping to rouse Team Bucciarati's betrayal. During the race for the Arrow, Giorno alone figured out that Diavolo was residing in one of the group's bodies, causing the Boss to realize that Giorno was his greatest threat. With Bucciarati's demise, Diavolo confirms that Giorno was in fact the more dangerous individual due to his cunning, as well as the fact that he had planned to usurp him the moment the boy entered Passione.
  • Bruno Bucciarati: Prior to meeting Giorno, Bucciarati was loyal to Diavolo, even though he was aware of the gang's involvement in the drug trafficking within Naples. Although Bucciarati initially had no power to take action, with urging from Giorno, he became determined to take the boss down as well. While this eventually led to Diavolo's killing him, Diavolo had declared his respect for Bucciarati, complimenting him on his prowess and valor.
  • Narancia Ghirga: Although not directly interacting with Narancia, he was a threat nonetheless once he turned traitor. After Chariot Requiem was activated and Doppio was shot by Mista, Diavolo retaliates by killing Narancia, whom had a radar capable of finding anyone attempting to attack Chariot Requiem.
  • Leone Abbacchio: Diavolo feared Abbacchio as he could easily find out whom Passione's Boss was with his powers. As such, Diavolo personally went back to Sardinia to intercept Abbacchio, and when given the opportunity, assassinated him while posing not only as Doppio, but also as a simple child playing soccer.
  • Guido Mista: While Diavolo lacks a connection with Mista, Mista on the other hand shares his teammates' hatred and fear of the boss. Diavolo likewise regarded him as a threat just for betrayal. In the end, after the final battle with Diavolo, Mista was the last original member of Bucciarati's team before Giorno intact.
  • Pannacotta Fugo: Fugo, even with all the evidence given to him, was torn between swearing loyalty to Bucciarati or staying on Diavolo's good side. Understanding the extreme danger of betraying Passione and Diavolo, Fugo ultimately chose to remain on Diavolo's side. In a rejected storyline, Fugo was also sent to kill his former friends, and if that was kept, Araki admits that Giorno would have needed to give the killing blow, which he felt would be too heartbreaking.

Other

  • Jean Pierre Polnareff: Polnareff is one of Diavolo's many enemies, though Diavolo did not have any interest in Polnareff particularly. As soon as Diavolo found out Polnareff had been investigating him, he made a personal and brutal attempt to dispose of him, but unknowingly left him alive. During their second confrontation, Diavolo did not care much that Polnareff was still alive, nor that he knew his name, but rather wanted to know immediately why Polnareff would possess an Arrow, displaying a sense of urgency on the matter of his familiar foe. Nonetheless, Diavolo would, without much effort, successfully put an end to Polnareff once more, stepping on his neck in order to check his pulse and confirm his death. However, Diavolo did not know that Chariot Requiem would save its former master by preserving his soul in the body of the turtle Coco Jumbo.
  • La Squadra Esecuzioni: Diavolo distrusted La Squadra, refusing to give them territory and higher pay despite their work. When two of their members began searching for his identity, Diavolo had them killed, one of whom was sectioned into 36 individual pieces, which were then mailed individually back to the group. After two years of silence, La Squadra discovered Diavolo's relation to his daughter Trish and defected from Passione, planning to use her for them to find and kill their former boss. Diavolo disdained these assassins, but came to respect their leader, Risotto Nero to a degree, considering him a worthy opponent and granting him the dubious "honor" of a painless death if he obeyed his command of restoring his iron level during their fight.
  • Cioccolata and Secco: As immoral as Diavolo was, he considered both of them monstrous and only kept them in his organization due to their powerful combination and individual abilities alike. As such, he only used them as a last resort to eliminate the remaining members of Team Bucciarati. On their part, Cioccolata and Secco only obeyed Diavolo because he let them torture people and planned to overthrow him eventually. Once Diavolo reached the Colosseum to confront Polnareff, he saw no use for them and left them to die at the hands of Team Bucciarati.

Chapters / Episodes

Book Icon.png Manga Appearances
Chapters in order of appearance
TV Icon.png Anime Appearances
Episodes in order of appearance
Book Icon.png Novel Appearances
Chapters in order of appearance

  • OVER HEAVEN Chapter 63 (Mentioned only)

Quotes

Quote.png Quotes
  • Leave this place, Bruno Bucciarati... if you come out from behind that pillar... you will die.
    —Diavolo, Chapter 518: The Mystery of King Crimson, Part 1
  • This is the end of the line. So, why shouldn't I tell you..? What you have witnessed and laid hands upon was your own future self! The "you" of a few seconds past saw your future self. That is the ability of my King Crimson! I eradicated time and forced it to skip!
    —Diavolo introducing King Crimson, Chapter 519: The Mystery of King Crimson, Part 2
  • I shall not allow anyone, no matter who they may be, to threaten my everlasting climax. I will eradicate every last one of them.
    —Diavolo, Chapter 519: The Mystery of King Crimson, Part 2
  • I can forecast the trails left by your movements... the trails of your future actions. Within King Crimson's ability, time is erased from the world and none can remember the footprints they left during this time! The clouds in the sky do not realize they have been scattered by the winds! An extinguished flame is not aware of the moment it has been snuffed! It is only the results! Only the results that remain in this world! All the actions you take in a world where time is erased are meaningless! And I alone can react to these actions! I can see exactly how you will act! That is the ability of my King Crimson!
    —Diavolo explaining King Crimson, Chapter 520: The Mystery of King Crimson, Part 3
  • Even if you try to erase it, the past will always come back to lock true peace away from you.
    —Diavolo, Chapter 540: Spice Girl, Part 2
  • If anyone knows even the slightest fragment of my true nature!... They must not be allowed to live.
    —Diavolo, Chapter 541: Storm Warning in Sardinia Island!
  • Do you understand, Doppio!? I must crush my fear! Now is the time... I must overcome it right now! That is what it means to live!
    —Diavolo, Chapter 552: Pronto! On the Phone, Part 2
  • This is a trial... The trial of defeating my past... I accept it. In order to grow, we must defeat the mistakes of our past.
    —Diavolo, Chapter 570: His Name Is Diavolo, Part 2
  • The past... even when you break it to pieces and emtomb it in stone, it crawls out like a worm.
    —Diavolo, Chapter 570: His Name Is Diavolo, Part 2
  • Your grunts with your filthy abilities and your trifling intellects will never be able to surpass King Crimson's forecasts... nor will you be able to circumvent them!
    —Diavolo, Chapter 583: Diavolo Surfaces, Part 4
  • I never predicted that anyone would be foolish enough to betray my gang, and I never imagined that anyone would discover my identity, ever. But, thanks to you, I have learned of this Arrow's true ability! This is a gift! A tribute that fate has given me for overcoming my past!
    —Diavolo, Chapter 583: Diavolo Surfaces, Part 4
  • You have genuinely angered me! (おまえはッ わたしを本気で怒らせたッ!!, Omae wa... watashi o honki de okora seta!!)
  • You're all slimy mucus vomited into a toilet bowl! How dare you do this to me! (この便器に吐き出されたタンカスどもが!!このわたしに対して⋯⋯⋯!!, Kono benki ni hakidasareta tan kasudomo ga!! Kono watashi nitaishite...!!)
    —Diavolo, Chapter 584: Diavolo Surfaces, Part 5
  • Who once said that "we all are soldiers chosen by fate"? But.... the world has shown me one truth.... Fate granted me the ability to erase time and precognize. There is no mistaking it... that is an obvious truth... The fate that governs this world selected my King Crimson to stand upon the invincible apex. I am no soldier.
    —Diavolo, Chapter 585: King of Kings
  • I am the Emperor. What I see is to remain upon the climax.
    —Diavolo, Chapter 585: King of Kings
  • I, Diavolo, am the Emperor! This fact remains unchanged!
    —Diavolo, Chapter 585: King of Kings
  • Giorno Giovanna! I will not even allow you the time to lament your death!
    —Diavolo, Chapter 586: Gold Experience Requiem, Part 1
  • My ability stands upon the apex of reality!
    —Diavolo, Chapter 586: Gold Experience Requiem, Part 1
  • You... little brat! (くぉのッ⋯ ガキイガァァァ!, Kono... Gaki gaaaa!)
  • H... how many more times will I die!? Where will it come from next...? Wh...when will it strike next!? I... I...!
    —Diavolo, broken by Gold Experience Requiem, Chapter 588: Gold Experience Requiem, Part 3
  • Stay away from me!!! (おれのそばにちかよるなああ, Ore no soba ni chikayoru naaa)

Creation and Development

Diavolo and King Crimson were partially inspired by George/Kuato, from the 1990 science fiction film Total Recall, a mutated human with a smaller twin brother conjoined in his belly. Araki thought Diavolo would look "punk" if his hair had a leopard pattern, hence the unique design.[18]

Casting

Kellen Goff, Diavolo's voice actor in the English dub of the anime, additionally auditioned for Vinegar Doppio as well as Diavolo,[19] though he only won Diavolo's role. He theorizes that Diavolo's personality contains a bit of Doppio's personality in it that resurfaces when Diavolo loses his cool, and compares Diavolo to a child who is "playing the boss". This influenced his performance, and every time Diavolo loses his calm, Goff voices him with a higher pitch to evoke the idea that Diavolo's childish side resurfaces.[20]

Diavolo's voice actor in games developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment, Toshiyuki Morikawa, would later go on to also voice Yoshikage Kira/Sheer Heart Attack in the Part 4 TV Anime. Meanwhile, his TV anime voice actor, Katsuyuki Konishi, also voiced Jonathan Joestar in the lost 2007 Phantom Blood movie.

Trivia

Notes

  1. Diavolo is stated to be born during Summer 1967 and Part 5 takes place in April 2001.

References

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Early life

Diavolo as a baby

While a majority of Diavolo's background is vague, some facts are made clear: born in an all-female prison during the summer of 1967, his mother claimed she had been pregnant for two years and there was no father, both within the jail and outside, that could've fathered her child. Because she still had years on her sentence, Diavolo was sent back to Sardinia to live with the priest in his mother's hometown. According to neighbors and friends, Diavolo was frank, yet timid and not too bright; he had also desired to be a sailor rather than a priest like his father wanted him to be. Jean Pierre Polnareff claims he was very likely abused as a child due to forming a split personality, but such an idea hasn't been confirmed.

In 1984 to 1985 (roughly when he was 17~19), Diavolo met Donatella Una, who was vacationing in Sardinia when they met. Donatella fell in love with Diavolo, who was under the assumed name of "Solido Naso", and they interacted enough to sleep together and have a daughter named Trish Una, whom Diavolo was never aware of. During this period of time, Diavolo told numerous lies about himself, all of which Donatella believed, and when they departed, Diavolo made a promise to return and never carried through with it.

The fire that erased all traces of Diavolo

In 1986, when Diavolo was 19, the priest (who by then had completely adopted Diavolo as his son) spotted Diavolo walking on the beach with a girlfriend (unknown as to whether it was Donatella or someone else). Believing it was time to get Diavolo a car, the priest began to construct a garage, only to find a young woman, Diavolo's mother, buried alive in the dirt with her mouth sewn shut. That night, a fire broke out and razed the village, killing the priest and five other people. Diavolo was listed as a casualty as well, but in reality had slipped off to Egypt to join an excavation. During this, he found six arrow heads by chance; He stole them, fled, and soon met Enya Geil, who told Diavolo of their use. He then sold five of the six to Enya for a very large sum of money and very likely returned to Italy to create Passione, a gang that would later become a dominant force in Italy. The arrow he took likely created his own Stand, King Crimson, as well as Mr.President, which was given to Polpo and his Stand, Black Sabbath, to form the initiation test of Passione.

When he had formed Passione, he quickly sent his growing number of subordinates off to find and erase other Mafia families in Italy. During the entire time he ruled Passione, no one had ever met him in person or had seen his face due to his Schizoid Disorder. He also had Passione clean the streets of drugs and do various charity activities (while secretly selling drugs), which gave the outer impression of Passione being a just and virtuous system. This allowed Diavolo to gather many wide-eyed idealists like Bruno Bucciarati and have them join Passione.

In the 1990's, Polnareff and Jotaro Kujo set off to find the remaining Arrows that Diavolo had dug up. Polnareff had noticed that in Italy, crime and death rates had been rising to a point where they were 20 times higher than the average. As such, he set off to investigate Passione and Diavolo, eventually causing the two to meet face to face. In retaliation for nearly discovering him, Diavolo gouged Polnareff's right eye, ripped off his arm, and threw him off a cliff - breaking Polnareff's legs in the process - and declared him dead. However, Polnareff survived and found, as he suspected, another arrow.

In 1994, Risotto Nero joined Passione and Diavolo instated him as the leader of Squadra Esecuzioni, an assassination team for Passione, giving him several operatives to run including Sorbet and Gelato. However, Diavolo never granted them territory, something all other units were given, and after five years the group sent a request for territory and a raise. When Diavolo rejected this offer, La Squadra retaliated by attempting to discover whom their Boss was so they could extort these gifts. Unfortunately, Diavolo caught on and kidnapped Sorbet and Gelato, eventually torturing them and killing Sorbet while Gelato committed suicide. He then left Gelato's body at the assassins' shared apartment and delivered the thirty-six individual pieces of Sorbet, embalmed in frozen formaldehyde and framed, back to La Squadra's base. When La Squadra rebelled, Cannolo Murolo assisted them in turning against the Boss; regardless of whether Diavolo knew this fact or not, he dubbed La Squadra traitors.

At some point during the previous events, Vinegar Doppio "became a member of Passione"; i.e., Diavolo begun to use him to carry out missions in privacy and go out in public without anyone seeing him in person. It is unknown when Doppio fully formed and 'joined' Passione, and how many years he had been working under Diavolo - however, assuming Diavolo had treated him right, it was a long enough period of time for Doppio to become both fiercely loyal and completely believe that he was the Boss's most trusted subordinate.

In January 2001, Donatella died due to an illness and Trish begun a quest to find her father. Due to his ties through Italy, Diavolo learned of this and sent Pericolo off to find her before La Squadra could.

Vento Aureo (2001)

Because of his drug ring plan still reaching people, particularly children, Giorno Giovanna became attracted to the events around Passione. The death of Luca prompted Diavolo to send Bucciarati to kill the one responsible, which resulted in the officer ultimately allying himself with Giorno. Giorno passed the initiation test, killed Polpo, and became a member of Team Bucciarati. After the defeat of Mario Zucchero and Sale, Pericolo met with them, graduated Bucciarati to Polpo's occupation, and gave them Trish Una as well as Diavolo's mission to Polpo to deliver her to him. This plan was done for a two-fold reason of killing off both La Squadra and Team Bucciarati and to personally kill Trish due to her being a blood relative and sharing his genes, thus giving any of his enemies a clue to his identity.

Dealing with Trish

During this time, Diavolo traveled to various locations and dropped off objects to be used by Team Bucciarati; these include the key used to activate Mr.President in Pompeii, Coco Jumbo in a train station at Naples, and a disk located in Venice that would tell of his ultimate location to drop Trish off at.[1] Team Bucciarati soon managed to collect all these whilst taking out the members of La Squadra whom would try to capture Trish, leading to Bucciarati himself going with Trish to meet the Boss; However, by this point, Bucciarati had become part of Giorno's plan to kill the Boss, something Diavolo wasn't aware of.
Diavolo deals with the traitor, Bucciarati
During the elevator ride up a tower where Diavolo said he was, he kidnapped Trish and slipped down the elevator shaft and into the basement. Bucciarati, finally fed up with the Boss, followed suit and refused to leave, instigating a fight in order to protect her. Diavolo easily overpowers Bucciarati and delivers a fatal blow, before attempting to kill Trish. However, he is stopped by the abilities of Gold Experience, Giorno's Stand, and stalled long enough for Bucciarati to take Trish and flee. Due to King Crimson's issues with dealing with substantial numbers, all of Team Bucciarati in this case, Diavolo allows them the chance to escape and brands the group traitors, sending his elite team to kill them and his daughter with the promise of monetary reward.

Targeting the Traitors

At the same time, Diavolo orders his alter-ego Doppio to look into a particular matter: the house Donatella lived in in Sardinia still stands, and if Moody Blues was used at that spot, Leone Abbacchio would reveal Diavolo's face.
Diavolo kills a prying fortune teller
 Along the way, Doppio is questioned by a fortune teller who reveals that they're searching for their daughter. Diavolo temporarily reveals himself and kills the fortune teller, but not before learning from him that an encounter with Risotto Nero is close. On the way to Donatella's house, the driver of the taxi that Doppio takes attempts to con him, believing the envelope containing the picture of Donatella to be full of money. Once again, Diavolo intervenes and almost gouges out the eye of the driver. However, he notices that not only did the taxi driver not see the contents of the envelope, leaving no reason to eliminate him, but that that they were being watch. Risotto was planning on intercepting Team Bucciarati to make one last attempt at capturing Trish. At first, Risotto simply assumes Doppio is a tourist, but upon seeing him react to the sounds and sight of Aerosmith, realizes that Doppio is a Stand user and attacks him. The fight with Risotto is long and he nearly succeeds in killing Doppio multiple times, if not for Diavolo's interventions. He gives Doppio the use of Epitaph and throughout the fight encourages Doppio to get close so that King Crimson can defeat Risotto in one fell swoop, or orders him to flee when Doppio is at risk of injury. However the fight is largely in Risotto's favor, from the power of Metallica to Doppio's lack of battle experience playing for the traitor.
Risotto's last attempt to kill Diavolo
Diavolo throws knives created by Metallica in the direction of Team Bucciarati. This causes Aerosmith to intervene and shoot Risotto, leaving him dying and defeated. As Diavolo emerges from Doppio, he stands over the traitorous assassin, offering him a quick death with his dignity intact in exchange for the restoration of the iron content of his blood lost in the battle. However, Risotto has Metallica hijack Aerosmith and attempt to shoot Diavolo. In response, King Crimson erases time so that the bullets pass through Diavolo and finish Risotto off. Diavolo is disappointed that Risotto died with not only his honor intact, but without needing to help his former Boss. Left extremely fatigued and weak, Doppio replenishes some of his supply of iron by devouring nearby frogs. When followed by Bucciarati and his men, Diavolo attacks a child playing soccer, steals his uniform, and drinks much of his blood to restore his own iron. This gives him a chance to kill Abbacchio while in disguise in an attempt to remove Bucciarati's group's chance to unveil his face. This fails, however, as an unknown third party begins assisting the traitors in gaining the power to defeat King Crimson.

Showdown with the Traitors

At some point after Bucciarati's group leaves Sardinia to follow their revolutionary's instructions, Diavolo gives Doppio back control and tells him to investigate the house. However, he knows they are moving towards Rome and he orders Doppio to get moving via plane, as well as ask Cioccolata and Secco for assistance, despite expressing disgust as the former for his past actions. However, when Doppio arrives in Rome, he's held hostage by Secco and is soon lending a hand in helping a once-again dying and unknowing Bucciarati. Diavolo uses his soul's resemblance to Trish's to fool Bucciarati into letting him help in order to find out whom has been assisting the traitors. He is then able to sneak past the rest of Team Bucciarati and bring him to the Coliseum.

When they get there, Diavolo takes notice of a person watching them, and orders Doppio to stay cautious. The unknown individual calls out and asks Bucciarati for the identity of the person with him is. Diavolo takes a closer look at the individual and notices the Stand-granting Arrow, shocking him and bringing only one person to mind: Polnareff. Though Bucciarati tells Polnareff that it's Trish and Doppio convinces him that he is a girl, he demands to see her Stand. It is in that instant that Doppio disappears.
Diavolo finally revealed
Doppio reappears on a set of stairs leading to Polnareff. In Diavolo's voice, he begins speaking about how everyone must defeat the mistakes of their past as he begins taking off his sweater and passes by a column. When he emerges from the column, Diavolo has fully revealed himself to Polnareff, knowing that he could not keep himself completely hidden in the ensuing confrontation. Though he is only slightly taken aback when he sees that Polnareff is somehow still alive after their last encounter, he nonetheless prepares to attack him a second time and make sure that he stays dead. Before Diavolo begins his assault, he questions Polnareff why he would have an Arrow when there was one already in Italy and all of his allies were already Stand Users. When Polnareff refuses to answer, Diavolo charges at him. Before King Crimson could erase time, Polnareff bites his own finger and holds it over his other hand. Diavolo takes notice of this and positions himself behind Polnareff. He is then attacked and has his arm sliced open by Polnareff's Silver Chariot when time is restored. Diavolo instantly figures out that the blood drops from Polnareff's finger allow him to know immediately when time is erased. Before Polnareff can escape, Diavolo erases time once more, and flings the blood from his arm into the path of Polnareff's eyes to make sure that he wouldn't be able to see when time returns. However, as Diavolo prepares to deliver a finishing blow with King Crimson the instant time returns, he notices that Silver Chariot has been stabbed in the face with the Arrow, and narrowly misses the Stand.
Diavolo faces off against Polnareff
Seeing it leap past the average Power-type range limit of two meters, he decides to mortally wound Polnareff by punching him through the chest to prevent it from going any further. Making sure his enemy is dead by checking his pulse, Diavolo wonders aloud is there might be some other ability of the Arrow besides granting Stands to normal people, then takes it for himself. He thanks Polnareff for bringing another Arrow to him before leaving. However, it is then that Diavolo notices a mysterious individual covered in black begin walking away from him. Though he angrily demands the entity's identity and commands it to face him, he suddenly drops the Arrow as his legs go limp. Diavolo falls asleep before he could make sense of the situation.

Chariot Requiem is Polnareff's last resort to keep the Arrow from falling into Diavolo's hands, and renders everyone in Rome unconscious while switching their spirits around. Upon reawakening, Team Bucciarati in their switched bodies figure out the workings of the soul-switching and their temporarily new identities. Coming to the conclusion that Diavolo's soul would be in Bucciarati's due to it being vice versa, Guido Mista, in Trish's body, immediately fires several rounds into the defenseless body as it's getting up. However, Diavolo's soul was piggybacking with Trish in Mista's body; He very likely comes to the conclusion that they're firing at Doppio and, enraged, breaks a nearby fence and impales Narancia Ghirga (in Giorno's body) on it, killing him instantly. With Giorno back to normal, the group realizes they were wrong and must retrieve the Arrow from Chariot Requiem, taking along with them Polnareff in Coco Jumbo's body. Diavolo, having become a separate soul, begins to sabotage the group's attempts to defeat Chariot Requiem.

Upon the first signs of Requiem's true ability to transform people and animals into "something else", Diavolo becomes the first to figure out its weakness. However, Giorno stops the group when he himself figures out that Diavolo has been sabotaging them. Giorno tells everyone to stay at least five meters apart from each other as Diavolo, whom split from Doppio during the soul switch, is now possessing one of them. It is then that Diavolo realizes that Giorno Giovanna was his greatest obstacle due to his perceptiveness.
Diavolo as a rogue soul
The young boy attempts to reveal the Boss by touching his allies, sensing if there are two souls. Diavolo, whom is in Mista's body along with Trish, severs Giorno's arm and bashes him in the head when he approaches Bucciarati so that he is not cornered. He is also able to grab Trish's own Stand, Spice Girl, and take complete control Mista's body. Upon figuring out that he is able to move Mista's various parts, Diavolo has him sprint for Requiem and the Arrow, using King Crimson's ability to get a headstart. Diavolo predicts the future and erases time to narrowly avoid Mista's bullets, having countered a number of attacks in the time he gets to Requiem. Before he revealed himself, he noticed that Requiem's shadow is always opposite of wherever he is. With this information, King Crimson throws a blind punch behind its own head, and hits an orb of light that was behind him all along and was producing the shadow. This mostly destroys Chariot Requiem and frees the Requiem Arrow, which Diavolo takes for himself. Ecstatic that the Arrow is in his hands once more, he prepares to pierce King Crimson with it. However, Giorno turns the blood that splattered on Diavolo when he severed his arm into a swarm of ants that chew at and break off the Arrow. Diavolo reaches for the dropped Arrow after deflecting more of Mista's bullets, but those same deflected bullets then shoot through his hand and knock the Arrow a long distance away
Disposing of his hated daughter
. Confused, he realizes that Trish has been fighting back, and that Spice Girl had used its ability to soften the bullets. Diavolo retaliates by wishing his daughter had never been born, before furiously punching her soul clean through the stomach. He then uses the force of the punch to send Mista's body flying in the direction of the Arrow that had escaped him. Having once again taken it, Diavolo attempts to pierce King Crimson without hesitation, only for the Arrow phase right through the Stand's hand; Bucciarati sacrifices his own life by finally destroying Chariot Requiem's remains, saving Trish's life by undoing its ability and ripping Diavolo's soul and King Crimson away from the Arrow.

Awakening, Diavolo attempts to retreat, but a conscious Trish tells Giorno that her father is "running away". In an effort to spare his own pride, he attacks Giorno after meeting eyes with him once more and seeing that the Arrow had landed in the boy's hands. Using Epitaph, he forecasts the Arrow rejecting Giorno, then mortally wounds Gold Experience just as the Stand is pierced. However, Giorno had successfully evolved his Stand into Gold Experience Requiem despite Epitaph's predictions. Initially, Diavolo believes the new form to be a simple enhancement, then forecasts Giorno killed. Giorno taunts and belittles Diavolo and his philosophy, stating that while the virtuous actions of his teammates could never be "erased", the boss and his selfish actions might not be the same case. He attempts to erase time as Gold Experience Requiem unleashes a barrage of punches, Mista fires several bullets, and wasps fly past. Placing himself next to Giorno, Diavolo splatters blood in front of his face like he did with Polnareff, then proceeds to deliver a fatal punch to the heart. However, before the hit could land, he is interrupted by the sight of the wasps flying backward and Mista's bullets returning to his gun. Right as he was about to resume his attack, Diavolo himself is shocked by Requiem speaking to him within the erased time, claiming that while Epitaph allows him to see the next moments of reality, Diavolo himself will never reach it; Gold Experience Requiem reveals its true power by setting King Crimson's seemingly invincible ability "to zero" and nullifying it, completely undoing the time erasure. Diavolo, forced to watch himself state the same lines, is left in a state of utter disbelief as Giorno and his Stand destroy Epitaph in a single punch with no trouble. Desperate in putting an end to the boy that has caused him so much trouble, he attacks Giorno once more, and Gold Experience Requiem ultimately pummels him, annihilating King Crimson in the process and sending him flying into the nearby river.

Final Moments

Diavolo's end

Due to the ability of Gold Experience Requiem, Diavolo is trapped in an infinite death loop; He continues to experience death over and over for eternity due to dying and subsequently returning to point zero (before his death), starting with drowning in the nearby river, followed by being stabbed to death, autopsied alive, and hit by a car. Panicked in anticipation for where the next source of his never-ending fatality is going to come from, the last of what is seen of Diavolo is him begging a harmless child to get away from him.

Aftermath

In Purple Haze Feedback, it is briefly touched upon in the beginning that, within the six months between Diavolo's death and the story of the novel, Giorno had managed to successfully fool the entirety of Passione into believing he had been the Boss all along. Besides the drug team, lead by Volpe, it is unknown how many members of Passione actually believed this. Giorno had also obtained the assistance of the Speedwagon Foundation through Polnareff, giving Passione even more power than Diavolo had. Diavolo, through the whole ordeal, was still in his looping deaths during this time and long after.

References

  1. Chapter 510: White Album (2)

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