Stardust Crusaders - Prologue
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Prologue is the first chapter of VIZ Media's paperback release of Stardust Crusaders. It recaps the events of Phantom Blood in a condensed format, using original text and artwork contributed by Hirohiko Araki.
Summary
In 1868, English nobleman George Joestar suffers a carriage accident that takes the life of his wife. A thief named Dario Brando saves George and his son, Jonathan Joestar, despite only having come to loot the corpses of the victims. George, unaware of Dario's selfishness, promises to help him through any trouble he might face. Two decades later, as Dario lays dying, George agrees to adopt his son Dio, who quickly develops a rivalry with Jonathan while aiming to seize the Joestars' fortune for himself.
Meanwhile, Jonathan uncovers a forgotten family heirloom in the form of a stone mask from Mexico, and begins investigating the mask to uncover its secrets. He also meets an eccentric European by the name of Zeppeli, who begins training him in the art of the Ripple. Jonathan eventually uncovers Dio's plot to seize the Joestar fortune and confronts him. In desperation, Dio kills George and awakens the true power of the mask, transforming him into an immortal, bloodthirsty vampire.
Jonathan and Zeppeli engage Dio in battle; though it takes the lives of many brave warriors, Dio is seemingly defeated. Jonathan marries his childhood sweetheart Erina Pendleton, and the two embark on a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean for their honeymoon. However, Dio reappears to finish the battle, having survived by severing his own head. Jonathan ultimately sacrifices his own life, sinking into the depths of the ocean with Dio's head gripped tightly in his arms.
The Joestar lineage lives on through Jonathan and Erina's child, George Joestar II, and George II's son Joseph. In 1944, the latter combats the creators of the stone mask in an adventure which takes him across America and Europe. After surviving the battle, Joseph becomes a grandfather himself when his daughter Holy and a Japanese man have a child named Jotaro Kujo. Jotaro, aged 17 as of 1989, is unaware that he stands to inherit the Joestar family's past, and their destiny...
Appearances
Errors
- Dario Brando does not actually save George or his son, as the text assumes; rather, George assumes he did when he wakes up.
- The text refers to the stone mask as a "forgotten family heirloom." In the original story, it is displayed prominently in the main hall of the Joestar mansion to honor Mary Joestar's memory, as it was the last item she purchased before her death.
- The text describes Jonathan's meeting with Zeppeli and apprenticeship in the Ripple before Dio's transformation into a vampire, despite the events occurring in the opposite order in the original story.
- Dio is said to have stolen the stone mask "out of desperation" after stabbing George, rather than having stabbed him in order to use the mask.
- The year of Jonathan's death is stated to be 1888 rather than 1889, though his age remains the same.
- Joseph's battle against the Pillar Men is stated to take place in 1944, rather than from 1938 to 1939.
- The current year as of the beginning of Part 3 is stated to be 1989, contradicting both official timeframes.
Gallery
Trivia
- Much of the art shown throughout the chapter is used outside its original context, often being redrawn to accommodate its new subject matter. Most notably, panels of Dio and his test subject are redrawn to feature Dio in his attire from the Joestar mansion confrontation, and one panel of the war between Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I is used to depict the battle between Jonathan and Dio.
- For unknown reasons, page 2 of the chapter consists of a second table of contents. This is likely a mistake on the publisher's part, as the prologue suddenly jumps from George and Dario's meeting to Jonathan and Dio's adulthood, and neither Jonathan nor Dio are properly introduced.
- Interestingly, the two tables of contents slightly differ in formatting. The first table of contents for the volume uses right-aligned text and shortens the title of the series to simply "JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE," whereas the second table matches all subsequent volumes by using left-aligned text and the full title of "JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE Part 3: Stardust Crusaders."
