JoJo

“

Jotaro Kujo... apparently, his friends at school took the "Jo" from Kujo and the "Jo" from Jotaro to nickname him "JoJo"... What a riot !

”

—A policeman, A Man Possessed by an Evil Spirit

JoJo (ジョジョ) is a nickname shared by each of the main protagonists of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, derived from the recurrence of "Jo" in their names.

In the text of the manga during Part 1 and Part 2, it is used most frequently in reference to Jonathan and Joseph Joestar.

Each of the protagonists is also descended from the Joestar Family, and as such all bear the Joestar Birthmark.

Protagonists

The JoJos
Jonathan Joestar	Joseph Joestar	Jotaro Kujo	Josuke Higashikata
	File:JolyneCharacter.png		File:Jo2ukeAv.png
Giorno Giovanna	Jolyne Cujoh	Johnny Joestar	Josuke Higashikata

Non-Protagonists

The following characters are not protagonists in the series, and some do not even belong to the Joestar bloodline. However, it's notable that their names are able to be shortened as "JoJo":

• George Joestar I
• George Joestar II
• Holy Joestar-Kujo
• Sadao Kujo
• Shizuka Joestar
• George Joestar I
• George Joestar II
• Norisuke Higashikata IV (born Josuke)
• Josefumi Kujo
• Sadafumi Kujo

Non-canon characters

• Jorge Joestar
• Joji Joestar
• Jota Kujo
• Joe Kujo

Origin

Araki admits that the idea for the name came from his neighborhood's local Jonathan's restaurant where he and his editor would often hold midnight meetings. The two decided the protagonist's first name would be Jonathan, and Araki, using Steven Spielberg's name as a reference, decided the last name should follow the same format, and thus Joestar was decided. Araki mentions that it was risky using this type of name, as using a foreign name for a main protagonist at the time was considered taboo.

Araki also admits that stories such as East of Eden and the TV series Roots inspired him to use a periodical style where the main character changes, but the story continues; although this was not a very Jump-style format for manga at the time.

TRIVIA

• Giorno Giovanna and Josuke Higashikata are the only main protagonists who were never referred to by the nickname "JoJo" (or the stylized "GioGio") by other characters in canon works.
• The only time the stylized "GioGio" is mentioned by another character is during the ending of the light novel Purple Haze Feedback wherein Pannacotta Fugo and Giorno Giovanna discuss the events of the story, Giorno tells Fugo to "do him a favor" and call him "GioGio" instead of "Boss", Fugo replies by swearing his allegiance and refers to him as "GioGio".
• Out of the three protagonists he met, Dio Brando referred to only one of them as "JoJo", that being Jonathan Joestar, possibly out of respect for Jonathan.

Notes

1. The kanji (助, suke) has an alternate Go-on reading as jo.
2. The kanji (貞, sada) has an alternate Kan'yō-on reading as jō.
3. The kanji (静, shizuka) has an alternate Go-on reading as jō.
4. Steven Spielberg (スティーブン・スピルバーグ, Sutīben Supirubāgu)
5. Giorno Giovanna (ジョルノ・ジョバァーナ, Joruno Jobāna), In Italian, Giorno Giovanna is pronounced as Jor-no Jo-vah-nah [Pronuciations]