Bow and Arrow

“

He who fully controls the Arrow... will control the world!

”

—Jean Pierre Polnareff, Chapter 571: What Lies Beyond the Arrow

The Bow and Arrow (弓と矢, Yumi to Ya) (more generally the Arrow (矢, Ya)) is a powerful item introduced in the fourth part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Diamond is Unbreakable. The Arrows become a major plot-driving force throughout the part due to their ability to create Stand users.

Some of the Arrows and their fragments influence the events of Stardust Crusaders, Vento Aureo, and Stone Ocean; in the latter two parts, the history and previous influence of the Arrows is detailed.

History

An excavation team discovers a virus inside a meteorite crater

Approximately 50,000 years ago, a meteorite crash-landed on Earth near an underpopulated region of Cape York, Greenland. In 1978, a mineral excavation team uncovered an unknown virus within the rocks of the surrounding area and determined that it had been lying dormant inside the meteorite. Despite extensive research, government doctors were unable to determine the alien virus's purpose outside of the total elimination of human life. It was soon discovered, however, that certain people possessed a quality that enabled them to not only survive when exposed to the virus, but gain supernatural abilities from it.^[1]

The creator of the Arrows

Several hundred years before the discovery of the virus, a man who wished to acquire the power of a god took material from the meteorite and fashioned it into Arrows. The Arrows were lost to time until 1986, when an Egyptian team of archaeologists that included a young Diavolo uncovered six of them in Egypt. The Arrows were eventually stolen by Diavolo, who sold five of them to Enya the Hag. The six Arrows changed hands several times, with three notably falling into the hands of Keicho Nijimura, Yoshihiro Kira, and Polpo.^[2]

The Arrows

The Arrow with the beetle design

Six Arrows have been discovered to date. Following their theft from an archaeological site in Egypt by Diavolo, five of the six were sold to Enya the Hag. Their subsequent usage is outlined below:

The Arrow kept by Diavolo, presumably used to awaken his Stand King Crimson, was later given to Polpo and placed in the mouth of his Stand Black Sabbath in order to create new Stand users for Passione. It is shattered during Polpo's death.^[3]
Keicho Nijimura obtained one Arrow from Enya after learning of her connection to DIO and thus his father.^[4] Keicho uses this Arrow on various residents of Morioh, attempting to create a Stand user capable of killing their father. The Arrow is later stolen by Akira Otoishi, who used it to grant Stands to two rats. Following Akira's defeat, the Speedwagon Foundation recovers the Arrow.^[5]
One Arrow, given to Yoshihiro Kira by Enya,^[6] was used to awaken his son's Stand Killer Queen. Following Yoshihiro's death and Josuke and the others investigation of Kira, Yoshihiro's ghost uses the Arrow to create Stand users in Morioh in order to protect his son. The Arrow later pierces Yoshikage Kira a second time, awakening Killer Queen's third bomb, Bites the Dust. It is presumably destroyed when Yoshihiro's ghost is destroyed by one of Killer Queen's bombs.
An Arrow possessing a beetle design was recovered in Egypt and kept by Jean Pierre Polnareff. Upon accidentally pricking Silver Chariot, the Arrow temporarily created Chariot Requiem. Polnareff pierces Silver Chariot with the Arrow a second time in Rome as he dies, summoning a berserk Chariot Requiem. After a fierce struggle for the Arrow, Giorno Giovanna pierces Gold Experience with the Arrow to create Gold Experience Requiem. The Arrow remains in the possession of Giorno and Polnareff's ghost afterward.

The whereabouts of the remaining two Arrows sold to Enya are unknown.^[7] However, there are several instances in the series where an unidentified Arrow appears:

A shard of one Arrow was given by Jotaro Kujo to his ex-wife. It is later given to Jolyne Cujoh, who accidentally uses it to awaken her Stand, Stone Free. Ermes Costello then picks up the shard, incidentally awakening Kiss before selling it to Jolyne's cellmate Gwess. The shard is returned to Jolyne following Gwess's battle with her. This shard is later returned to Jotaro after he is placed inside the submarine.
One Arrow, bearing the same beetle design as Polnareff's Arrow, was given to Enrico Pucci by DIO in 1987.^[8] The Arrow later pierced Pucci, awakening his Stand, Whitesnake, as well as his brother's Stand, Weather Report.^[9] Its subsequent whereabouts are unknown.
The Bow, along with one Arrow, can be seen hanging on DIO's wall in the anime adaptation of Stardust Crusaders.^[10] This Arrow is presumably one of the five sold to Enya, though its subsequent whereabouts are unknown.

rey infinito Arrows

The information below derives from El Aleph which was not written by Araki. As such, it may not be considered canon.

In the light novel rey infinito, a secondary set of arrows are present in South America. Lisa Lisa, who has been investigating the phenomenon for several years, theorizes that a violent earthquake that happened in 1966 in Peru may have unearthed a stratum of ore infected with a special virus. Someone must have processed some ore and sculpted it into arrows to awaken extraordinary powers.

According to the testimony of one enslaved young girl, a group of human traffickers led by Fernando Alhorn has taken possession of several arrows and are shooting people to turn them into Stand users. They then enslave those Stand users to exploit their abilities.

After learning about this, Lisa Lisa decides to command the rest of the Paranormal Phenomena Section of the Speedwagon Foundation to retrieve the Arrows by arresting the human traffickers.

Concludes non-canon section.

Properties

Stand-Awakening Property

The Arrow's power awakening a Stand

The Arrows fashioned from the meteorite will catalyze and awaken the Stand of any living creature they pierce, given that the target has sufficient spiritual strength. If the target lacks sufficient spiritual strength, contact with the Arrow will prove fatal; on the other hand, the Arrows normally only seek out and pierce those who will live.

In certain cases, such as with Ken Oyanagi and Tama, the wound caused by the Arrow will heal and leave a hole about the size of an average coin.

Effects on Bloodlines

The Arrow's effects transfer through bloodlines, generally without exception. The Arrow that pierced DIO (and thus Jonathan Joestar's body) awakened Stands in the rest of the Joestar family. Members of a bloodline without the necessary spiritual strength to wield a Stand slowly die from its power, as if they were suffering a severe fever; such is the case with Holy Kujo and a young Josuke Higashikata. If the person responsible for the Arrow's influence dies, any family members suffering in this way are cured instantly, though Josuke fully awakened and retained his own Stand.

The Arrow can also awaken a Stand within one's siblings, as the wound from the Arrow that pierced Enrico Pucci also transferred to his brother Wes Bluemarine, granting him Weather Report.

A child born after a parent is pierced by an Arrow doesn't seem to develop their own Stand, as Jolyne didn't awaken her Stand until she cut herself on the Arrow shard.

Repeated Piercings

Silver Chariot pricks its finger on the Arrow and becomes Chariot Requiem

A degree of uncertainty surrounds the effects of an Arrow piercing a Stand or its user after its awakening. When an Arrow pierces a Stand user, the user in question awakens a new ability; such was the case with Yoshikage Kira's Bites the Dust ability. However, this fact seems to be context-sensitive, as Giorno Giovanna's repeated contact with the Arrow in Black Sabbath's mouth seemingly had no effect beyond wounding him.

Though this is only demonstrated with one Arrow, piercing a Stand may cause it to change its form and gain a completely new ability;^[11] these evolved Stands are referred to as Requiem Stands. In the two cases where this has occurred, Polnareff's Silver Chariot lost its previous abilities while Giorno's Gold Experience retained them. Though it is unclear whether the Arrow can reject a Stand user, the possibility has been raised by Diavolo. The transformation can usually be reversed by retrieving the Arrow from an evolved Stand, though the berserk Chariot Requiem retained its form even without the Arrow.

Stands Awakened by the Arrows

Awakened by DIO

The World

DIO

Jonathan's Stand

Jonathan Joestar/DIO

Joestar Bloodline

Joestar Bloodline

Joestar Bloodline

Joestar Bloodline

Bloodline

Bloodline

Rikiel

Bloodline

Bohemian Rhapsody

Ungalo

Bloodline

Awakened by Akira Otoishi

Ratt

Bug-Eaten/Not Bug-Eaten

Awakened by Yoshihiro Kira

Awakened by Polpo

Anime Only

Awakened by Diavolo

King Crimson

Diavolo/Vinegar Doppio

Spice Girl

Trish Una

Bloodline

Awakened by Jean Pierre Polnareff

Chariot Requiem

Jean Pierre Polnareff

Second Piercing

Awakened by Giorno Giovanna

Gold Experience Requiem

Giorno Giovanna

Second Piercing

Awakened by Jolyne Cujoh's Pendant

Gwess

Awakened by Enrico Pucci

Bloodline

Non-Canon

Awakened by Reimi Sugimoto

Arrow Cross House

Penelope de la Rosa

Awakened by Dio Brando

C-MOON Ultimate Requiem

Kars/Dio Brando

Awakened by Fernando Alhorn or his gang

La Casa Verde

Dos Santos

El Señor de las Moscas

???

Joaquín Ruiz-Jorruda

Similar Phenomena

Steel Ball Run

In a desert along the trail of the future Steel Ball Run race, a meteorite crashed into the desert and formed a mobile formation of land known as the Devil's Palm. Feared by the natives near the area, it was rumored that the Devil's Palm sought out future Stand users and imposed a heavy affliction upon them, from which the person would obtain a Stand.

JoJolion

Following Johnny Joestar's seizure of the Saint's Corpse and self-sacrifice, the place where the Corpse was used beneath the Meditation Pine^[12] is imbued with a similar power to the Devil's Palm,^[13] in addition to gaining the property of equivalent exchange.

Video Games

Puzzle & Dragons (Android/iOS)

The Bow and Arrow was obtainable for a limited time in the mobile game Puzzle & Dragons as a free unit in exchange for 5x JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Collab DISC - Rainbow. It is meant to be an Assist Monster equipped to another unit to enhance its stats and add its Skill.