Joseph Joestar/Abilities and Powers
Ripple
- Main article: Ripple
Joseph inherited Ripple abilities from his grandfather, Jonathan Joestar, as well as his mother Lisa Lisa. In addition, he uses techniques commonly present in stage magic to confuse his foes. After his Ripple training, he frequently combines his Ripple with other objects to perform complex and creative attacks. Later in Part III, he shows that he is able to pass the Ripple through his Stand.
Attacks
During his battle with the Pillar Men, Joseph had demonstrated several techniques similar to his grandfather's.- Ripple Hair Attack (波紋ヘア・アタック, Hamon Hea Atakku): Joseph infuses his Ripple into strands of hair to make them hard enough to block incoming projectiles. He used it to block bullets fired by Santana after ripping Stroheim's hair off.
- Overdrive (
波紋疾走 , Ōbādoraibu): Much like any other overdrive, the technique sends a large pulse of Ripple through an object. During his fight with Esidisi, Joseph used it to send the Ripple through the thread of his hat and onto Esidisi's being. - Rebuff Overdrive (
波紋肘支疾走 , Rībaffu Ōbādoraibu): Joseph charges Ripple into his elbows and delivers a powerful strike. This was used during his fight with Wamuu. - Zoom Punch (ズームパンチ, Zūmu Panchi)： Similar to his grandfather's move, Joseph uses Ripple to extend his arm and strike opponents at a longer range.
- Ripple Overdrive (波紋
波紋疾走 , Hamon Ōbādoraibu, Lit. Ripple Overdrive): Joseph channels the Ripple into his arm and does a powerful chop attack. This slowly transfers the ripple blast through the point hit, making it advance until blowing up. Joseph used it against Kars to cut off his saber and blow his arm. - Ripple Beat: Joseph charges his hand with Ripple and strikes his opponent with a chop. This attack is not capable of harming Joseph himself even if he directs it to himself, as the Ripple used is his own. [1]
American Clackers
In order to come up with a special attack, Jojo invented a fighting style that involved infusing the Ripple into a pair of normal American Clackers. When infused, the clackers become a lethal weapon, as the user is able to rip through an opponent's skin with them, and from there the Ripple can enter the body, thus inflicting massive damage. Because of their shape and aerodynamic design, someone who is trained in their use is able to easily maneuver them around their body, even having the ability to make them seem to disappear by hiding them behind their back.[2]
- Clacker Volley (クラッカーヴォレイ, Kurakkā Vorei): Joseph chucks the clackers into his opponent's direction. This can be done a number of ways, but to produce the best effect, he can hide them behind his back. From there, he can slingshot them from his back at the enemy from all directions.
- Clacker Boomerang (クラッカーブーメラン, Kurakkā Būmeran): Joseph chucks both pairs of clackers into a beam or pillar behind the opponent. This is in order to fool them into assuming he missed them when using Clacker Volley. One is thrown into the partition, causing one side of it to be lodged in place. The other side grabs onto the 2nd pair of clackers, and essentially flings them back towards the opponent from behind, much like a boomerang works.
- Ripple Clacker Volley.png
Clacker Volley
- Clackers Surprise.png
Suprise Attack
Clacker Boomerang
Other Equipment
Other than his Clackers, Joseph has used a number of other weapons and tools in conjunction with Ripple and his strategic wit.
- He used Ripple to pop the tops off of a cola bottle against a corrupt police officer and two tequila bottles against two Nazi soldiers as high speed projectiles.
- He used a Tommy gun to shoot Straizo and then strike him with the stock charged with Ripple. This was followed be connecting a grenade to Straizo's scarf, the pin of which was attached by strings to the pins of several other grenades on his back.
- He used the yarn of a wool hat (which is highly conductive of Ripple) to form a net underneath the spike filled arena against Esidisi.
- He wielded a large sledgehammer in the chariot race against Wamuu, which he slathered in oil to improve the Ripple conduction. He also used a heavy crossbow to fire an Ripple-charged iron ball at the wall of the arena where it spun around the entire wall and hit Wamuu from behind.
Stand
Hermit Purple manifests itself as a tangle of thorny vines, which Joseph can wield as both a weapon and a defense. Furthermore, it has been shown to conduct Ripple which could make Hermit Purple one of the more effective stands against those weak to it, such as vampires and pillar men. Joseph develops the Stand after Dio pierces Jonathan's body with the Arrow, upon which it responded to Dio and Enya awakening The World.
One of its special abilities (shared with The World) is to use cameras, televisions, and other things to perform a form of fortune telling referred to as spirit photography. When introduced, it was demonstrated that he had to smash an expensive Polaroid camera to do this, and the camera would dispense a picture of DIO. Later on he is seen using televisions for this ability without having to damage them.
Hermit Purple is also shown as being able to connect to electronics. Joseph can then check the electronics for tampering, or even control them (such as, he uses Hermit Purple on a TV, and can use it to change channels)
The Hermit card primarily gives a meaning of solitude, introspective, or soul-searching, which could symbolize Joseph's lifelong journey. It also carries a more direct meaning of teaching or advising, which is Joseph's main role in Part III.
Quick Wit and Tricks
Joseph Joestar's mind is his deadliest and most valuable asset.
Joseph's favorite strategy is to psyche out his opponents. To do so, he notably predicts what his enemies will say next or more commonly provokes them to unnerve them and make them predictable in their rage. Joseph is proficient in analyzing the personalities of those he faces, and shamelessly exploit any character flaw in order to return whatever they will be doing next against them, most commonly their overconfidence, but also particular quirks such as Wamuu's pride as a warrior or Kars' obsession for the Red Stone of Aja. It should be noted that Joseph is as susceptible to these tactics as his opponents, leading him to be psyched out by Esidisi notably.
Having great prestidigitation skills, his goofy demeanor serving as the greatest distraction he can rely on, Joseph is able to attack from unexpected angles or make critical moves under the guise of simple goofiness. Sometimes Joseph will use one obvious trick hiding another trick to trap his opponents.
Joseph is maybe the most proficient man in the series at using his environment to his advantage, the Ripple increasing the dangerousness of any item he gets his hands on. Among others, Joseph has used mirrors, glass shots, hair, a well, pasta, pigeons, wool hats, icicles, pebbles, and his own plane as tools and weapons to grasp the upper hand, each use will efficiency and imagination. Joseph also keeps a number of tools handy just in case, keeping weapons on him as soon as he expects danger.
In addition, he is good at piloting fighter planes, as shown in his fight against Kars. He was even able to safely land a real airplane when Gray Fly crashed the plane they were landing on. He also flew a Cessna in episode 19 before inadvetedly crashing it due to various distractions and incidents occuring (mainly having to due with Mannish Boy and his stand Death 13).
When he is cornered, Joseph can still rely on his particularly quick wits to come up with a viable solution in an instant. The most successful instance being Joseph using the Red Stone of Aja to amplify Ultimate Kars' Ripple Attack as to cause a volcanic eruption and send Kars into space.
Joseph's tendency to use so many tricks stems from his particular mindset. He considers that in combat, every move is fair-play with the exception of involving civilians and being needlessly cruel. Thus he isn't bound by any code and doesn't hesitate to flee, or cheat if the ends justify the means, as seen against the D'Arby brothers.
- Near-Death Survival Technique: After he lit his scarf on fire, Joseph told Kars that he was putting his life in danger so he would be pushed beyond his own limits to find a new technique before the flame reached him. This was actually part of a plan to trick Kars, who would be too distracted to notice Joseph's plan to save Lisa Lisa.
Secret Technique
The Joestar family's "secret technique." Usually utilized as a last resort, Joseph invented this move to use when battling the enemy seemed hopeless. In reality, it was actually used to stall time in order for Joseph to formulate a plan. It was also used by Jotaro later in the series during his fight against Rubber Soul.[3]
The secret technique consists of carefully retreating from the opponent, while keeping a close eye on his surroundings for things to use to defeat his opponent. To the untrained eye, it just looks like he is running away like a coward, however he will also use this technique to try to lure an enemy away from others.
References
- ↑ Vol. 16 Ch. 148: The Empress (3)
- ↑ Chapter 67-68: Special Attack: JoJo Clackers!
- ↑ Chapter 138: Yellow Temperance (4)
