JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Encyclopedia II - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - The Stands

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - The Stands

The concept of "stand" (stands for "stand by me") was introduced in part 3 of the manga series. According to Joseph Joestar, it is the manifestation of an individual's innate power over the "ripple" (hamon) and represents, to an extent, the individual's psyche. In fact, Joseph once referred to it in the manga as the "ghost ripple" (quite apt, as most of them take on humanoid forms and hover around the wielders like wraiths). To people without the power of the Stand, who naturally cannot see them, the activities of the Stands are comparable to ghostly and poltergeist activity. This behavior is evidently seen in the JoJo anime, in the episode with Jotaro imprisons himself, where other prisoners and even the guards feared Jotaro.

It is interesting to note that the stands began to take on names of distinguished bands and album titles starting from part 4 of the series. Most of them are progressive rock bands, as Araki himself is a fan of this music genre. In part 3 they are named after tarot cards, and later after Egyptian gods.

Part 3: Stardust Crusaders

Star Platinum (Jotaro Kujo) One of the strongest stands in the Jojo universe. Star Platinum possesses super human senses, strength, stamina, accuracy and speed. In fact, it is inferred among fans that Star Platinum's incredible speed is basis to its ability to stop time. At his peak, Jotaro can stop time for as long as 10 seconds with his stand. Like other physically powerful stands, Star Platinum suffers from a narrow range of activity. It can only be active within a 2-3 metre radius from Jotaro.

Magician's Red (Mohammed Avdol) Avdol's stand takes the form of a man with an eagle's head. This fiery stand can be remotely controlled and generates intense flames capable of melting steel within moments. Magician's Red can also produce a "heat radar", a cruciform mass of flame that indicates direction of heat sources.

Hermit Purple (Joseph Joestar) Hermit Purple appears as multiple thorny vines that spawn from Joseph's right hand. Apart from combat purposes, this versatile stand can perform remarkable feats. It can produce psychic photographs and live psychic videos on a television, but at the expense of a camera and television, respectively. It can also conjure real-time maps (capable of tracking moving subjects) and (apparently) read minds. Joseph can also use the vines to swing himself around like Spiderman.

Hierophant Green (Noriyaki Kakyoin) This is another remote stand with the ability to alter its form. It can stretch over impressive distances (in his fight with Dio, Kakyoin "webbed" an entire city district with Hierophant Green), and can reduce to microscopic sizes (as in the fight with Yellow Temperance). It can also shoot emeralds like bullets, and can possess people, if it uncoils itself inside a person.

Silver Chariot (Jean-Pierre Polnareff) A stand in a shiny suit of armor, wielding a rapier (incidentally, Polnareff is dedicated to the code of chivalry). Silver Chariot is a speedy remote stand that deals lightning-fast strikes with his sword. It's also capable of shedding its armor to increase its speed dramatically.

The Fool (Iggy) The Fool is the most basic Stand, yet it possesses a remarkable amount of power. It can levitate, appear, dissapear or animate objects out of sand. It's no wonder Iggy is able to stay untouched in the urban streets of New York...

Ebony Devil (Devo or D'Bo) This Stand is in the form of a hideous doll. Controlled by Devo (called D'Bo outside Japan), he waits for the enemy to attack first. Then, using his doll, he exacts revenge upon the enemy. Devo is a hired killer, and supposedly originated from South America.

Emperor (Hol Horse) As a Stand that is a gun, the ability of Emperor is bullets that change directions long after being launched. It is wielded by Hol Horse, a cowboy that at first, hesitated to work for Dio. This ability needed another Stand to work, and so, Hol Horse got the partnership of J. Gail, and then by Boingo. Avdol was felled by Hol Horse and the Stand, Emperor, ableit temporarily. (It was supposed to be permanent though, but tremendous fan feedback forced Avdol's return.)

High Priestess (Midler) Previously, the wielder of High Priestess was unknown. Only in the game made by Capcom was the space filled in, by Midler, a woman resembling a belly dancer. High Priestess uses its own ability to morph into any objects. It initially disguised itself as a mug, which caught Joseph off-guard. It was defeated by Jotaro later on.

Sethan (Alessi) This Stand takes form as Alessi's shadow. The ability of this Stand is to turn anyone who touches his shadow into children. Jotaro and Polnareff both fell prey to his Stand, in the series.

Anubis (Chaka, Khan and Polnareff) Called the Stand with no wielder, it existed without one because of the sword it was imbued in. When the forgesmith who crafted the sword died, the Stand lived on. Chaka unsheathed the sword accidentally, causing Anubis to take control of Chaka. When Chaka was defeated by Polnareff, he took the sword and entrusted it to a barber, named Khan, who also got possessed by it. Finally, after breaking the sword, Polnareff also got possessed, after holding the sword to sheathe it, but is freed by Jotaro later on. The sword ended up in a river to rust. The ability of the this Stand is to remember any attack of the enemy it encounters. It will not fall for the same attack twice.

Cream (Vanilla Ice or Iced) For a Stand with a sweet and delicious pun (Vanilla Ice + Cream = Vanilla Ice Cream), it has a deadly ability to destroy objects using its interdimensional ability, turning itself into a void. He is the one who permanently killed Avdol and Iggy. In the anime series, Vanilla Ice also takes away Polnareff's toes.

The World (Dio Brando) Very similar to Jotaro's Star Platinum, this stand has phenomenal strength, senses and stamina - but faster and more accurate. It can also stop the time (for a longer duration as well). It is rumored that he also has Joseph's psychic abilities as well.

Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable

Crazy Diamond A melee stand with short range (3m), Crazy Diamond has a rather unique ability of "restoration". It can repair damages and heal injuries (apart from the wielder's own injuries) - though it can not ressurect the dead, however it can restore an item to its raw materials (eg. a table can be restored to timbers). This ability allows Crazy Diamond to perform a range of interesting feats, including trapping the enemy (by restoring pieces of a broken crate around the target) and tracking (eg. restoring a torn piece of clothes, and it will seek out and reattach to where it came from).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Stands", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki