Forever

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You're not a normal monkey, are you?
Jotaro Kujo to Forever, Chapter 131

Forever (フォーエバー, Fōebā) is a tertiary antagonist featured in the third part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Stardust Crusaders, specifically the "Strength" story arc.

He is a malicious orangutan in DIO's service who confronts the group in the South China Sea aboard a freighter. Said ship happens to be possessed by Forever's Stand: Strength.

Appearance

Forever Appearance.png

Apart from the two stripes or scars on each side of his head, there's not much to be said about Forever's appearance. He resembles a disheveled orangutan, though he does dress in a captain uniform after his Stand is revealed. Like a normal orangutan, Forever's strength is approximately five times greater than a human's, enabling him to easily rip a person's arm off. His character design is presumably inspired by the super-intelligent yet malicious orangutan from the movie, Link.[2]

Forever also happens to smoke both cigarettes and a pipe.

Color Schemes

The series is known for alternating colors between media, the information presented below may or may not be canon.
Colored MangaSFC GameHeritage for the futureOVAAnime
Skin(Light brown with brown stripes)
Fur(Dark brown)
Outfit
(White suit with black trims and golden accessories)
Fur(Red)
Skin(Tan)
Fur(Brown)
Skin(Dark gray with red stripes)
Fur(Brown and light brown)
Outfit
(White suit with pale purple trims and golden accessories)
Fur(Dark Brown and white)
Outfit
(White suit with black trims and golden accessories)

Personality

A truly intelligent ape, but an arrogant and perverted one

Forever initially appears to be a simple, yet intuitive ape. However, it possesses a fair amount of intelligence. For instance, it was smart enough to ambush the Joestar Group by passing as an average ape to lower their guard. Forever seems to be attracted to human women, looking at pin-up magazines and lusting for Anne when she's in the shower.[3] He also smokes cigarettes and can cut his own apples,[4] showing unusually high intelligence for an orangutan. Furthermore, he can read and quickly solve puzzle games, like a Rubik's cube.[5]

These human abilities coexist with his brutal animal nature: he plays with his victims, confident of his control over the ship,[6] but should his strong sense of pride be hurt, he loses his calm and quickly becomes violent.[7] However, when Forever is cornered, he loses all confidence and begs Jotaro for mercy by showing his belly as a sign of defeat.[8]

Abilities

Stand

Main article: Strength

Forever's Stand is Strength, sharing its name with the tarot card. In its only display, it transforms a ruined yacht into a massive oil freighter, which the ape can then control at his leisure.

Strength (ストレングス(力))Link to this section
StrengthMangaAv.png
PWR
B
SPD
D
RNG
D
STA
A
PRC
E
DEV
E

Intelligence

Forever is a particularly intelligent orangutan who, though unable to speak human language, can read, solve a Rubik's cube, and generally have coherent thoughts.

History

Stardust Crusaders (1988)

Pretending to be an ordinary orangutan.

Forever is among the seven Stand users deployed by Enya the Hag to assassinate the Joestar Group.

Forever confronts Jotaro and company at sea between China and Singapore on their way to Egypt, right after the confrontation with the Impostor Captain Tennille. Jotaro, his comrades, and Captain Tennille's seamen approach a large oil carrier and get aboard, only to find out that nobody is on the deck nor in the cabins. The only living being they meet is Forever, a seemingly normal orangutan, lying in his cage. After the death of one of the seamen, caused by the mysterious activation of a mechanical hook, JoJo's group begins to suspect the presence of a Stand user.[10]

Attracted to Anne, Forever leaves his cage, kills all of the remaining seamen and ambushes the girl in the shower. He is stopped by Jotaro, only to quickly regain control of the situation by exploiting the fact that Jotaro and the others couldn't imagine the enemy Stand to be the entire ship.[11] At the same time, he binds the whole Joestar Group, slowly crushing them in the metal of the ship. Immobilized by the evil primate, Jotaro manages to provoke his opponent by hitting him with a button from his uniform, hurting his pride and getting him in the range of his Star Finger.

Forever defeated.

Caught by surprise by the now unbound Jotaro, Forever begs for mercy. Jotaro refuses the ape's proposal, saying that Forever has rejected the rules of the animal world, becoming just as corrupt as a human being, and brutally beats him with a barrage of Star Platinum's punches. With Forever's incapacitation, the ship collapses, returning to the original wrecked boat it was, leaving the heroes free to continue their journey.[12]

OVA


The information below derives from the Stardust Crusaders OVA which was not written by Araki. As such, it may not be considered canon.

In the OVA, Forever is among one of the five Stand users sent to kill the Joestar Group by Enya.

After the Joestar Group's SPW plane crashes in the Pacific ocean, near India, the group wait in a raft for somebody to help them. They encounter Strength and climb aboard, the group are caught with confusion as to where the ship's crew is. Thinking it's a normal boat, they decide to split up and explore the ship in search of the crew.

Forever beckons the group to free him.

They find Forever in a cage and Joseph calls Forever a "Huge Monkey" before Kakyoin corrects him telling Joseph that Forever is an orangutan. Forever points and taps at the lock of his cage in an attempt to get the Joestar Group to get closer, they do not respond. Forever, disappointed, pulls out a book. One of the Joestar Group's pilots gets closer to Forever, comments on him as a "smart monkey". Kakyoin informs the pilot if he gets too close to Forever, Forever might rip his arm off, scaring the pilot. The group leave the room to continue their search.

Shortly after Avdol defeats Polnareff, the two SPW pilots enter the room. The group tell them their enemy is defeated. Forever uses Strength to kill first pilot by impaling his head with a hook. The second pilot gets shot by bolts used as projectiles, the Joestar Group are unharmed and manage avoiding Forever's attacks. Jotaro catches one of the bolts with Star Platinum and drops it on the floor. The bolt begins flinching and moves into Forever's hand, revealing himself as the Stand user to the group. He transforms the bolt into a pipe and begins smoking. Forever immobilises the rest of the crew with pipes. Jotaro tries to hit Forever, but his punch is blocked by a metal wall.

Forever dead.

Forever encases Jotaro in a thick metal tomb, Forever, in an attempt to ridicule his opponent, knocks on the tomb, Jotaro responds by using Star Finger to stab his forehead. Enraged, Forever tightens the tomb as Jotaro tries to punch his way thru it. Forever tightens it so hard Jotaro appears to have died, contempt with "victory" he begins to grin. Shortly as he indulges in his "victory", his head is cut in half by Polnareff's Silver Chariot. Strength begins disappearing, revealing the small boat it was bound to. The group uses this boat to get to India. When Enya informs DIO of Polnareff's betrayal, she refers to Forever as "useless".

Chapters / Episodes

Book Icon.png Manga Appearances
Chapters in order of appearance
TV Icon.png Anime Appearances
Episodes in order of appearance
Book Icon.png Novel Appearances
Chapters in order of appearance

Creation and Development

Forever's name in Heritage

Forever was not given a proper name until several years after Part 3's publication, where it was revealed in the PlayStation port of Heritage for the Future and eventually documented in JOJO A-GO!GO!. The name is derived from a pun as the Japanese spelling for Orangutan (オランウータン, Oranūtan) encompasses the Japanese spelling for Wu-Tang (ウータン, Ūtan).

Casting

In the anime, he shares the same voice actor as Shigekiyo Yangu, Kappei Yamaguchi. Later, his voice actor voiced Yo-Yo Ma.

In the German dub, he shares the same voice actor as Noriaki Kakyoin, Daniel Käser.

Video Games

JoJo RPG (SFC)

The events from the Strength arc in the game occur differently than in the original story. The Stand takes the form of a building instead of a boat, and the battle takes place in Japan instead of Singapore in comparison to the original story.

PSXStage6.png

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (PS1)

Forever appears as a Mini Game in Super Story Mode. His fight consists of the player punching Forever with Star Platinum whenever he appears on the screen. Forever will eventually begin to retaliate by throwing pieces of the ship at the player, like fans, pipes or rocks. Anne will also appear randomly on the screen; if the player hits her by accident, the life bar will be decreased. Forever's special battle can be unlocked in Book Mode.

Stardust Shooters (Android/iOS)

Both Forever and Strength appear as two of the several characters who possess a Metal Striker in the game. Their FINISH MOVE makes the fan which was on the ship fly and cut the opponent.

Gallery

MangaAnimeOVAGamesFigurinesCardsOther
StoryChapter Covers
SFCJoJo's Bizarre Adventure (PSX)
Adventure Battle CardCrusade

Trivia

  • Forever's lustful gaze towards the showering Anne may also be a callback to a similar scene in the 1986 horror film Link, where an intelligent chimpanzee (played by an orangutan) stalks the female protagonist as she gets undressed for a bath.

References

  1. Justice - Vol.3 "Shueisha Jump Remix Stardust Crusaders Edition" P70-71 The Secret of JOJO Characters
  2. JOJOVELLER: Araki's Stand Commentaries - Strength
  3. Chapter 130: Strength, Part 1 P.7.
  4. Chapter 130: Strength, Part 1 P.5-6.
  5. Chapter 131: Strength, Part 2 P.13.
  6. Chapter 131: Strength, Part 2 P.11.
  7. Chapter 131: Strength, Part 2 P.15.
  8. Chapter 131: Strength, Part 2 P.18.
  9. JOJO A-GO!GO!: STANDS, p.104
  10. Chapter 130: Strength, Part 1
  11. Chapter 131: Strength, Part 2
  12. Chapter 132: Strength, Part 3

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