Jonathan Joestar

Lore & Background

Jonathan's life becomes one of misery when Dio Brando is adopted by George Joestar I, eventually resulting in his father's death as Dio sought to kill both of them. This motivates Jonathan to learn how to utilize Hamon energy from Will A. Zeppeli to settle the score with Dio, though his power later increases drastically when a dying Zeppeli transfers his remaining Hamon into him. Though Jonathan defeats Dio and marries his childhood sweetheart, Erina Pendleton, who bears his son George Joestar II, he is nevertheless fatally wounded by Dio's severed head during an attempt to take his body. Jonathan ultimately dies of his injuries, but not before further injuring the already severely weakened Dio and using his Hamon to cause an explosion on the ship that they and Erina are traveling aboard, with Jonathan successfully persuading Erina to escape alongside an infant orphaned by Dio's zombies by using Dio's coffin as a makeshift lifeboat. Despite his death, Jonathan nevertheless has an influence throughout almost the entirety of the series thereafter; this is most noticeable in Stardust Crusaders, where it is revealed that Dio managed to discard Jonathan's head and gain his body as his own. Upon his return, Dio awakens his Stand, although doing so directly awakened one within Jonathan's body and indirectly awakened Stands within Jonathan's descendants, which in turn sets the plot of the part in motion. However, Jonathan's final effort was not in vain, as it weakened Dio to the point of him requiring blood from a Joestar descendant in order to both fully fuse with Jonathan's body and gain proper control of his respective Stand. In addition to Stardust Crusaders, Jonathan's influence is present, yet very subtle, in three other parts of the series. In Battle Tendency, his significantly potent Hamon results in his grandson Joseph not only inheriting the ability to use Hamon, but also having an inherent aptitude for it. The orphan that Jonathan requested Erina to rescue is also revealed to be Elizabeth "Lisa Lisa" Joestar, who became the wife of his deceased son George II, the mother of Joseph, and an expert in Hamon. In Golden Wind, it is revealed that Jonathan is the biological father of the part's protagonist, Giorno Giovanna, due to Dio's impregnation of a Japanese woman some time after his return, having taken over Jonathan's body. In Stone Ocean, three antagonistic Stand users (Donatello Versus, Rikiel, and Ungalo) are revealed to also be Jonathan's biological sons, albeit with personalities that are based on specific facets of Dio's personality and lack any influence from Jonathan's personality. In addition, one of Jonathan's bones is an integral fail-safe for Dio's desire of "achieving Heaven".

In Their Own Story

Jonathan Joestar is the protagonist of Phantom Blood, the son of George Joestar I who carries his surname with pride while striving to be a gentleman who never betrays his code of honor and defending those in need even when at a grave disadvantage. He is a passionate person, he wants to be the best at everything that he does, whether it is fighting or even table manners. Jonathan's life becomes one of misery when Dio Brando is adopted by George, eventually resulting in his father's death as Dio sought to kill both of them. This motivates Jonathan to learn how to utilize Hamon energy from Will A. Zeppeli to settle the score with Dio, though his power later increases drastically when a dying Zeppeli transfers his remaining Hamon into him. Though Jonathan defeats Dio and marries his childhood sweetheart, Erina Pendleton, who bears his son George Joestar II, he is nevertheless fatally wounded by Dio's severed head during an attempt to take his body. Jonathan ultimately dies of his injuries, but not before further injuring the already severely weakened Dio and using his Hamon to cause an explosion on the ship that they and Erina are traveling aboard, with Jonathan successfully persuading Erina to escape alongside an infant orphaned by Dio's zombies by using Dio's coffin as a makeshift lifeboat.

Reader's Guide

Jonathan Joestar is the main protagonist of Phantom Blood, the first story arc of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. He is the son of George Joestar I and strives to be a gentleman who never betrays his code of honor. His life turns to misery when Dio Brando is adopted by his father, leading to George's death. Jonathan learns the Hamon technique from Will A. Zeppeli to fight Dio. After Zeppeli transfers his remaining Hamon to him, Jonathan defeats Dio and marries Erina Pendleton. However, he is fatally wounded by Dio's severed head and dies, but not before using his Hamon to cause an explosion on the ship, persuading Erina to escape with an orphaned infant using Dio's coffin as a lifeboat. Jonathan's influence persists throughout the series: in Stardust Crusaders, Dio takes over Jonathan's body, awakening Stands in Jonathan's descendants; in Battle Tendency, his Hamon is inherited by his grandson Joseph; in Golden Wind, he is the biological father of Giorno Giovanna; and in Stone Ocean, three antagonistic Stand users are his biological sons. Steel Ball Run, set in a rebooted universe, introduces a version of Jonathan named Johnny Joestar, a paralyzed horse racing prodigy who learns the Spin technique from Gyro Zeppeli to regain mobility, and dies in his twenties after being married.

Did You Know?

• Manga author Hirohiko Araki decided to kill Jonathan because he wanted to pass down the Joestar family's lineage, calling it 'unthinkable' to do such a thing in a shōnen manga.
• Jonathan was designed to be a symbol of purity and dignity, not a unique character, which Araki later considered made him 'a bit boring' and passive.
• Jonathan's physical transformation during the seven-year skip was inspired by muscular film actors popular at the time, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
• Araki took inspiration from the American television series Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the novel East of Eden when creating the generational story that led to Jonathan's death.
• Jonathan is the biological father of Giorno Giovanna, the protagonist of Golden Wind, because Dio impregnated a Japanese woman while using Jonathan's body.