Hermit Purple's vines are relatively weak, but they provide Joseph with considerable telepathic ability, enabling him to sense locations or thoughts by projecting them into a camera, or a TV, or even into an image made from the sand of a dusty street.
Joseph demonstrated that he can use the vines as a means of transporting himself between buildings, like a grappling hook or whip. This is used most as a way of keeping Joseph safe from dangerous situations, quickly pulling himself out of the way.
Psychic Photography: Apart from combat purposes, this versatile Stand can perform remarkable feats. It can produce psychic photographs by destroying a camera or another object. The photo will reveal the intended target as it is in that moment of time to show were the person is located. It also can produce live psychic videos on a television that will show the intended person and allows communication as well. The Stand can make the TV quickly change channels in a way to create an audible message of what Joseph wants to know. Hermit Purple also allows its user to read minds, but only with the use of a TV. It can also conjure real-time maps capable of tracking moving s map out of dust on an unpaved road.
Ripple Transmission: Joseph has shown the ability to transmit the Ripple through Hermit Purple as an extension of his body. Wrapping himself in Hermit Purple in such a manner was able to prevent DIO from touching him.
Trivia
Hermit Purple is one of three Stands wielded by a Joestar that does not have a humanoid appearance, the others being his grandfather's Stand and his daughter's Stand.
Hatate Himekaidou's psychic photography ability from Touhou Project functions in the same way as Jonathan Joestar's The Passion and Joseph Joestar's Hermit Purple; Hatate even wears purple clothes.
Hermit Purple's thorns can briefly be seen in the background of the second opening of the JoJo TV anime, "Bloody Stream". This acts as foreshadowing, as the episodes that the second opening is attached to adapt Battle Tendency, and Joseph does not develop Hermit Purple until the following part, Stardust Crusaders.
