Bigmouth Strikes Again
Bigmouth Strikes Again (ビッグマウス・ストライクス・アゲイン, Biggumausu Sutoraikusu Agein) is the Stand of Charming Man, featured in the ninth part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, The JOJOLands.
It manifests as fragments of sand that produce illusions around the user, allowing him to disguise himself as another person or become invisible by blending into the environment in three-dimensions.
Appearance
Bigmouth Strikes Again is an integrated ability that appears as sand and rock fragments with different colors. It floats around Charming Man's face and upper torso when being used and has a texture that feels like real, coarse sand. Charming Man's actual skin feels the same way.[1]
Abilities
Sand Dispersion
Bigmouth Strikes Again allows Charming Man to disperse his whole body or specific parts into sand-like particles. This allows him to disguise himself,[2] confuse people's perception of what they are seeing,[1] or detach body parts like his eyeball to scout remotely. By becoming small particles, Charming Man can travel inside areas like a human body for investigative purposes. Furthermore, the Stand can pin down enemies using the particles and pull them away.[3]
Active Camouflage
The material that comprises Bigmouth Strikes Again allows Charming Man to perfectly disguise himself either as another person or effectively become invisible by camouflaging himself in three-dimensional space. When active, the sand forms a second skin around him, and when dismissed it crumbles away. The illusion is visibly perfect; when he attacks Jodio Joestar while disguised as Paco Laburantes, Jodio only discovers something is amiss when the real Paco arrives behind him.[2] The sand can also be applied to other objects, allowing him to hide weapons on his person or to make other objects appear completely different, such as when he tricks Jodio and Paco into thinking three potatoes are the decapitated heads of Wild Cat Size.[4]
When used to camouflage with the environment, the Stand perfectly replicates whatever is behind Charming Man with respect to the line of sight of those looking at him. When he emerges from the camouflage, it is as if he appears out of nowhere, with parts of his body appearing to be fused to different parts of the scenery at vastly different distances, even the clouds far in the sky;[1] it almost makes him appear as a figure in a cubist painting. Charming Man can selectively choose how much of his body is camouflaged in this nature, using it to attempt a sneak attack on Paco by hiding his knife-wielding arm in plain sight.[1] He can also produce illusions of other objects within the camouflage, using the ability to trick Dragona Joestar into thinking a bird stole a watch they had used the Lava Rock to steal earlier, with the illusion only breaking when Dragona physically makes contact with what they think is the watch.[1]
However, Bigmouth Strikes Again still retains its sandy texture, either on Charming Man's own body or on objects he has extended the camouflage onto, as evidenced when Jodio feels the sand on Leo's car door while interrogating the man's girlfriend before Charming Man attacks him once more.[4] The sand floating around him is also used as a visual cue that he is using his powers, as seen when he disguises himself to match the fake ID that Dragona gives him before they enter the land deed registry offices in Honolulu.[5]
Chapters
Manga Appearances- The JOJOLands Chapter 8: Hualalai - Cat Size, Part 3 (1st appearance)
- The JOJOLands Chapter 9: Kailua-Kona - Flight Waiting Time, Part 1
- The JOJOLands Chapter 10: Kailua-Kona - Flight Waiting Time, Part 2
- The JOJOLands Chapter 11: Kailua-Kona - Flight Waiting Time, Part 3
- The JOJOLands Chapter 14: Aim for That Fifty Billion Dollars, Part 1
- The JOJOLands Chapter 15: Aim for That Fifty Billion Dollars, Part 2
- The JOJOLands Chapter 16: Lulu's Bags Groove, Part 1
Gallery
Charming Man's Paco disguise shedding off
Close-up of the Paco disguise crumbling away
Charming Man blending in with his surroundings to trick Dragona
Fused with a car door
Transformed into water splashing
Charming Man detaching his eyeball and dispersing it into a straw
Charming Man scouting inside Usagi's body with his eyeball
Trivia
- On December 24, 2023, Hirohiko Araki appeared on the "Viewing Tips: Cubism" episode of the NHK program Sunday Art Museum (日曜美術館), where he showcased art of Bigmouth Strikes Again from the most recent chapter at the time. Araki described the Stand's ability as allowing its user to "transform into the sky", and that he was a bit influenced by the Cubism style but it wasn't intentional. He also stated that it's difficult to draw the user blending in with the clouds.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The JOJOLands Chapter 10: Kailua-Kona - Flight Waiting Time, Part 2
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The JOJOLands Chapter 9: Kailua-Kona - Flight Waiting Time, Part 1
- ↑ The JOJOLands Chapter 15: Aim for That Fifty Billion Dollars, Part 2
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The JOJOLands Chapter 11: Kailua-Kona - Flight Waiting Time, Part 3
- ↑ The JOJOLands Chapter 14: Aim for That Fifty Billion Dollars, Part 1
- ↑ Vish (December 31, 2023), "Hirohiko Araki Discusses Cubism in Paintings and The JOJOLands", JoJo's Bizarre Encyclopedia.
