SPOILER WARNING: Part 1-8 spoiler details may follow.
Families
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I can tell since I watched thosethreemen who carried the blood of the Joestar Family in their veins back in Morioh. The three of them emanate righteousness from their hearts as if it gave them energy...
The Joestar Family (ジョースター家, Jōsutā Ke) is an extensive clan of characters featured prominently in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, of which each of the protagonists of the series is a member. Dating back to English aristocracy, the Joestar Family would become involved in the supernatural, resulting in a rippling impact affecting generations to come.
Summary
The Joestar family has had a rich history and each of its members have had wildly different lives from each others. One of their key features are a star-shaped birthmark above their left shoulder blade.
They began as a noble and well-off family of British society, residing in a luxurious mansion in England thanks to George I's trading business. However, his son, Jonathan, burned down the mansion in an effort to slay the vampirised Dio Brando, and the family has lived elsewhere since then, their homes occupying different countries depending on the generation. The family has also abandoned its roots in nobility with most members having normal jobs such as a realtor or marine biologist.
The Joestar line originates from England, however, its members became more diversified with time, starting with Joseph who had children with both an Italian and Japanese woman. This trend has continued with his descendants, with Joseph's daughter, Holy, marrying a Japanese man and then living in Japan, as well as Jotaro marrying an American woman and going to live in the United States. Thus the Joestar Family are connected to Italy, Japan, and the United States.
The familial archenemy is Dio Brando, his immortality, and worldwide influence leading to the Joestars battling the vampire and his followers for the majority of their recent history. Due to the exceptional circumstances of Dio Brando stealing Jonathan's body, the Brando family is connected to the Joestars, and several members can be considered to be both children of Jonathan and Dio in a way.
The Joestar family is considerably connected to the supernatural, several of its members meeting with supernatural creatures and combating fantastical threats with varying degrees of willingness. The family's earlier members can count among them a high number of Ripple users, but Joseph was their final representative. Afterwards, each of the main Joestars became Stand users, all blessed with potent Stand abilities.
Although the family's members are largely referred to as the Joestars, the family name itself died out early in the series with Joseph, as he only had two children, a daughter and a bastard son. Since then they have had different last names such as "Kujo" and "Cujoh". The high number of bastards in the family also results in names such as "Higashikata" or "Giovanna". The most prominent members of the family throughout the generations have had a tendency to have alliterative names, usually earning them the shared moniker of "JoJo".
In the second continuity introduced in Steel Ball Run, the Joestar family are Americans descended from British nobility who lost their status. However, George Joestar II becomes wealthy from his exceptional horseback riding talent, winning the Triple Crown seven times during the 19th century. His two sons, Nicholas and Johnny, continue the tradition as horse racing prodigies.[2]
JoJolion depicts the family after Johnny marries Rina Higashikata in 1892 and moves to Japan, tying the Joestars to the Higashikata family. As Johnny's family lived in Japan, some of his descendants are primarily Japanese. Joseph Joestar, a Stand user and the grandson of Johnny, went by the nickname "Fumi" and lived in Japan. He eventually moves to America in 1941 and lives there for several years as Lucy Steel's assistant. Joseph has two daughters, Barbara Ann Joestar and Holy Joestar. Holy lives in Japan and marries into the Kira family, having two children. Her son, Yoshikage Kira, ends up going through an equivalent exchange with Josefumi Kujo, creating Josuke, who is adopted into the Higashikata family in 2011.
The JOJOLands features the children of Barbara Ann living in Hawaii, Dragona and Jodio Joestar, the latter of them going on to become extremely rich in the subtropical islands.
The Joestars retain their link with the supernatural, with Johnny becoming a Spin and a Stand user, and his descendants being Stand users as well.
In the light novel JORGE JOESTAR, the 37th universe also has a Joestar family which has a few similarities to the original universe but with divergences. The Joestar family is English, but England does not exist in this universe. A group of Anglo-Saxons living in Maine in the 19th century had declared independence, calling themselves the Kingdom of England. Despite fighting in a war, the American government never officially recognized them.[3]
The Joestars lived on a large farmland while they were in America. They were titled aristocrats, wealthy even by the standards of English citizens.[4]
The group of citizens living in the Kingdom of England eventually collapsed from within, leading to several English families having to scatter across the world due to losing their country. The Joestar family ends up moving to Japan. Including the Joestar family, these English families had to adopt in order to keep thriving, leading to Jonda Joestar adopting Jorge Joestar.[3]
The Brando Family (ブランドー家, Burandō Ke) is a dynasty of characters mainly featured in the first seven parts of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series that are connected to the supernatural and the Joestar Family.
Summary
Dio Brando and his father Dario, the original members of the Brando family.
The Brando Family has very few known members, mostly due to one generation being frozen for a century when Dio Brando was trapped at the bottom of the ocean. Thanks to Dio grafting his head to Jonathan's body, the Brando family is deeply connected to the Joestars, and his bastard sons can be said to be both descendants of Dio and Jonathan, all bearing the Star Birthmark. With the exception of Giorno Giovanna, all Brandos have been antagonists to the Joestars.
Their known history begins in the 19th Century as a family of poor Londoners living in squalor. The father, Dario Brando, was a thief who abused his family, eventually leading to his wife's death[1] and contributing to making his son Dio Brando a worse person. One night, Dario was mistaken for trying to save the Joestar family after a fatal carriage accident by George Joestar I when he was actually trying to rob them. George felt indebted and eventually adopted Dio in his family after Dario's passing.[2]
DIO's Legacy
Dio took this opportunity and tried to inherit the Joestar family wealth, by distancing Jonathan from their father and even going so far as to poison George. Thus began a generation spanning feud between Dio and the Joestar family. Dio used the Stone Mask to become a vampire and surrounded himself with Zombies[3] and kill Jonathan[4] only to be sealed at the bottom of the sea. A hundred years later, DIO gathered malevolent Stand users.[5] Jonathan's descendants continued fighting Dio, finally defeating him in Cairo, Egypt.[6]
Before his defeat but after awakening from being trapped in the ocean, DIO had at least four children, being Giorno Giovanna, Donatello Versus, Rikiel, and Ungalo. After DIO's death, his children found themselves in many different situations and social standings. Giorno becomes very successful in achieving his goals while his known half brothers had much worse lives.
Dashed lines indicate adopted children, couples who have divorced, extramarital affairs/unmarried couples, or illegitimate children.
Blue boxes indicate direct descendants of the Brando lineage.
Red boxes indicate family members through marriage.
Yellow boxes indicate adopted members of the family.
Green boxes indicate extramarital affairs and unmarried couples with children.
Pink boxes indicate characters who were reborn.
Gray boxes indicate pets that are part of the family.
Brando Family (Second Continuity)
In the Steel Ball Run continuity, the few known Brandos regain their origin as a poor and destitute family with a tragic streak.
Left for dead, Diego and his mother changed their surname to Brando and lived as farm workers who were abused.[7] Diego eventually becomes a renowned jockey with a foot on British nobility by virtue of marrying a rich old woman and inheriting her wealth and status.[8] This family has far fewer ties to the Joestars, as Diego only temporarily worked in the Joestar's stables, and was a mere rival to Johnny among others during the Steel Ball Run.
The family line effectively ended when Diego was killed while battling Funny Valentine.[9]
I'll bow out by demonstrating the Zeppeli spirit, passed down from generation to generation, which I now entrust to the future! An unmistakably human spirit!
The Zeppeli Family (ツェペリ家, Tseperi Ke) is a recurring family of native Italians, whose members are featured in Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency, and Steel Ball Run. Allied to the Joestar Family and fighting for the side of good, the Zeppeli are tied to the Ripple and the Spin.
Zeppeli Family
The beginning of the Zeppeli family's link to the supernatural
The Zeppeli family is introduced in Phantom Blood with their history being deeply connected to the Stone Mask. A young Will Anthonio Zeppeli unearths the Stone Mask while he is among his father's archaeological research group in Mexico. Will suffers from the Stone Mask's potential of carnage firsthand when his father activates the mask and kills his entire crew aside from his son, before dying in the sunlight.[1] The same Stone Mask then goes on to be used by Dio Brando.
The end of the last known Zeppeli line
Chasing after the Stone Mask and wishing to destroy the monsters it creates, Will learns the Ripple in Tibet under the tutelage of Tonpetty.[2] Hearing that the Stone Mask was in the Joestar Mansion, Will then allies with Jonathan Joestar, becoming his mentor in the ways of the Ripple. Will makes a great contribution to the fight against the Stone Mask's monsters. His legacy is continued by two of his descendants, his son Mario Zeppeli and then grandson Caesar Zeppeli. Mario collaborates with Ripple masters such as Straizo and Lisa Lisa. Caesar inherits the ability to use the Ripple and enhances his skills by training with Lisa Lisa, Loggins, and Messina. He also befriends Jonathan's grandson, Joseph Joestar.[3]
Not much is known about the Zeppeli family. During Will's generation, the Zeppeli were scholars but after Caesar and his siblings were abused by relatives, they fell on hard times. Caesar is known to have been raised in Rome.[3]
After the menace of the Stone Mask and the Pillar Men are neutralized, the remaining members of the Zeppeli family do not join the subsequent adventures of the Joestars.
Dashed lines indicate adopted children, couples who have divorced, extramarital affairs/unmarried couples, or illegitimate children.
Blue boxes indicate direct descendants of the Zeppeli lineage.
Red boxes indicate family members through marriage.
Yellow boxes indicate adopted members of the family.
Green boxes indicate extramarital affairs and unmarried couples with children.
Pink boxes indicate characters who were reborn.
Gray boxes indicate pets that are part of the family.
Zeppeli Family (Second Continuity)
In Steel Ball Run, the Zeppeli are reintroduced as a well-off and respected family of Neapolitan doctors and executioners connected to Naples's court. Moreover, the Zeppeli now have a tradition of practicing the mystical art of the Spin for generations, which combined with their study of human anatomy, has elevated their practice of medicine and execution to a high level.[4]
After Naples transitions into a republic and overthrows the king, the Zeppeli family are said to have moved to an unknown country, and their whereabouts are unknown.[6]
Dashed lines indicate adopted children, couples who have divorced, extramarital affairs/unmarried couples, or illegitimate children.
Blue boxes indicate direct descendants of the Zeppeli lineage.
Red boxes indicate family members through marriage.
Yellow boxes indicate adopted members of the family.
Green boxes indicate extramarital affairs and unmarried couples with children.
Pink boxes indicate characters who were reborn.
Gray boxes indicate pets that are part of the family.
Gallery
The Zeppeli family tree in the original continuity (manga)
The Zeppeli family tree in the original continuity (anime)
The Zeppeli patriarchs shown again, shortly before Caesar's death
Gyro Zeppeli, the first Zeppeli introduced in Steel Ball Run
Trivia
The Zeppeli Family is named after Led Zeppelin, an English rock band.
It is a recurring theme that a Zeppeli will sacrifice themselves to further their cause, usually while directly assisting a Joestar by giving them their power and knowledge.
Usually intertwined with the Joestar Family, its members are often involved with the protagonist of the part they feature in. Unlike the Joestars, the Higashikata family exclusively resides in the town of Morioh.
Higashikata Family
The Higashikata family is first seen in Diamond is Unbreakable and consists of three family members. They reside in the suburb of Morioh in a detached house and seem to be middle-class. Josuke, being the illegitimate son of Joseph Joestar, is the only member to have a Stand. Tomoko and Ryohei meanwhile have no supernatural abilities. At some point in time the Higashikata family buys a reef on the coast of Morioh, where the town's abalones reside.[1]
Dashed lines indicate adopted children, couples who have divorced, extramarital affairs/unmarried couples, or illegitimate children.
Blue boxes indicate direct descendants of the Higashikata lineage.
Red boxes indicate family members through marriage.
Yellow boxes indicate adopted members of the family.
Green boxes indicate extramarital affairs and unmarried couples with children.
Pink boxes indicate characters who were reborn.
Gray boxes indicate pets that are part of the family.
Higashikata Family (Second Continuity)
Higashikata family crest (JJL)
In the new continuity of Steel Ball Run and JoJolion, a much larger and more prominent Higashikata family comes to the forefront. Unlike the first iteration, they are more deeply connected to the supernatural.
However, one of the strangest things about them is that the family is cursed with the Rock Disease, which changes each generation's eldest son into rock. This curse has afflicted the family for an undisclosed amount of time. Due to this the Higashikata follow several traditions to counter this curse. The eldest son most notably has to cross-dress in an attempt to ward off the curse, and they previously had to make the second son or anyone marrying the eldest daughter the new head of the family. However, since Norisuke IV's time, the family has had an unofficial trend of having a parent sacrifice themselves for the child by performing a transfer of the curse, a tradition which Kaato Higashikata broke.
This Higashikata family follows a tradition wherein the eldest son of each generation changes his birth name to "Norisuke", likely when the previous Norisuke passes away, as seen in the case where Jobin Higashikata has not yet taken up the name "Norisuke V".
The family tree as revealed in JoJolion lists its members from right to left from eldest child to youngest child. Interestingly, the names of the siblings of each "Norisuke" in each generation are not revealed in the family tree. The tree also demonstrates a bloodline connection to the Joestar Family through Rina Higashikata's marriage to Johnny Joestar, intertwining the two families.
As of JoJolion, all of the currently living members of the Higashikata Family are Stand users, including those by marriage. All Stand users use a Stand whose name contains the word "King".
Lastly, all men in the family have a birth name that starts with "Jo" (常, Jō) (excluding those whose birth names are unknown and Tsurugi). The female members as of the current generation in JoJolion (including Mitsuba, who was married into the family, and Tsurugi) are also named after card suits.
JoJolion's Higashikata Family's tradition of dressing their firstborn sons as girls during their childhood to protect them from diseases is reminiscent of a plot point from the Japanese 12th century novel Nansō Satomi Hakkenden, in which the character Shino Inuzuka (犬塚信乃, Inuzuka Shino) spent his youth dressed and raised as a girl so that he would grow into a strong man.
Gallery
The original Higashikata family
Another photograph of the Higashikata family with a noticeably happier Josuke
The Boomboom family acquired their collective Stand when they were looking for mines in the cursed mountains and stumbled upon a Devil's Palm.
During the first stage of the Steel Ball Run race, they kill three other racers, attracting the attention of the local sheriff and bounty hunter Mountain Tim, who is also a participant in the race. At some point, they take up Oyecomova's bounty for Gyro.
During the second stage, Andre approaches Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli claiming to have been bitten by a lizard, and asks for some fire to cauterize the wounds. This turns out to be a plan to have them come in contact with Andre and become victims of his Stand.
Not too long after the encounter, the other two family members come in to intercept Gyro and Johnny with their magnetic Stands. Although both managed to flee, Benjamin maintains their Stand's power on the duo by shooting through the hole in Andre's abdomen, causing the blood from the flying bullet to fall on Johnny. Moreover, Benjamin tricks Mountain Tim into chasing Johnny by attacking him while disguised, also having planted some blood on Tim. Andre faints from blood loss and is presumably left behind.[1]
Benjamin and L.A. catch up to Johnny, Gyro, and Tim and manage to trap and disable all three. However, Johnny awakens his Stand Tusk which takes the Boomboom Family by surprise. Benjamin is cut in half and dies while L.A. gets one foot cut, crippling him. Before Johnny, Gyro, and Tim leave, an enraged L.A. swears revenge on them and inadvertently indicates that other killers are on their trails, especially on Gyro, noting that there is a bounty for his head. However, Tim remarks that L.A. has no way to rejoin civilization and will thus die of thirst in the desert. This is the final time a member of the Boomboom Family is seen.[2]
Battle Tendency stars Joseph Joestar, the grandson of Jonathan. Joseph reappears in Stardust Crusaders and Diamond is Unbreakable along with his descendants.
During Part 1 and Part 2, members of the Zeppeli family (Will Anthonio Zeppeli and Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli respectively) act as mentors and friends of the protagonists. Both suffer from a tragic end but assist the Joestars before dying.
Stardust Crusaders tells the story of Jotaro Kujo, the first JoJo not to bear the Joestar name, but Kujo instead. He is the son of Holy Kujo and grandson of Joseph Joestar.
During JoJolion, the Higashikata family becomes more important. They have various members who play an important role and the Joestar family is united with theirs due to the marriage of Johnny and Rina Higashikata. Unlike the original universe, the Joestar family is also connected with the Kira family, due to Holy marrying Yoshiteru Kira. However, the Kujo family still plays an important role, as Josefumi Kujofuses with Yoshikage Kira to form the protagonist.
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