Jotaro Kujo

is a fictional character in the Japanese manga series ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. The main protagonist of the series' third story arc, ''Stardust Crusaders'', Jotaro is depicted as a rough delinquent with a noble heart who journeys from Japan to Egypt with his grandfather, Joseph Joestar, and their allies to defeat the Joestar bloodline's sworn enemy, Dio Brando, and save his mother's life. He has a Stand (a physical manifestation of his fighting spirit) named , whose power is incredible strength, speed, and precision. Later, Star Platinum gains the ability , enabling Jotaro to stop time for a few seconds. Jotaro returns in subsequent story arcs of the manga as a supporting character. In '' Diamond Is Unbreakable'', he meets his 16-year old biological uncle Josuke Higashikata. Jotaro also appears briefly in '' Golden Wind'' when he sends Koichi Hirose to Italy to spy on Dio's son, Giorno Giovanna, and in '' Stone Ocean'' to aid his daughter Jolyne Cujoh against the forces of Enrico Pucci.

Jotaro was first conceived by Araki as a lonely hero inspired by American actor Clint Eastwood. In order to make the story more appealing, Araki created characters who would not overlap with Jotaro's characterization. Jotaro was voiced by Jūrōta Kosugi in the original video animation adaptation of ''Stardust Crusaders'' and by Abie Hadjitarkhani in its English dub. In the later television anime adaptation and in the rest of his occurrences in future parts, he was voiced by Daisuke Ono in Japanese and Matthew Mercer in English.

Critic and fan reception to Jotaro's character has been positive, with Araki himself stating that Jotaro has become so well known that he could act as a "synonym" for ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' as a whole. Critics have praised his stoic personality and heroic actions, and although some reviewers noted Jotaro to be overpowered, others found his fights appealing and unique, such as the gambling battle with Daniel J. D'Arby.

Creation and development

''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' creator Hirohiko Araki decided to have a Japanese main character for Part 3 around the ending of the manga's first part. Araki modeled Jotaro after American actor Clint Eastwood, including his poses and catchphrases; Jotaro's signature finger-pointing pose came from one of Eastwood's poses with a .44 Magnum. His catchphrase was also an imitation of the type of lines Eastwood would say in his movies. This is why the character might seem "rough" compared to other ''Weekly Shonen Jump'' protagonists; however, Jotaro fits Araki's own image of a hero perfectly as a "loner" who does not do the right thing for attention. The author said the character wearing his school uniform in the desert has its roots in Mitsuteru Yokoyama's ''Babel II''. Araki wrote that Jotaro has become "big enough" that he can act as a synonym for ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' as a whole. He also revealed that he has based the visual designs of subsequent JoJos on Jotaro's and then worked to differentiate them from there.

Other characters in Part 3 were written to contrast with Jotaro. Because Joseph was also the "JoJo" of his own story arc, Araki made sure to make it clear that Jotaro was the main character of ''Stardust Crusaders''. Araki stated that he had Kakyoin act as a foil to Jotaro. Although they both wear school uniforms, Kakyoin's well-tailored one gives him the feel of an honor student, while Jotaro's loose-fitting uniform and accessories convey that he is a delinquent. He made Kakyoin Jotaro's first real Stand opponent to visually convey the concepts between short-range and long-range Stand abilities. In order to have him not overlap with Jotaro and Joseph, Polnareff was given a distinctive look and personality, which in turn made him stand out in the group.

Casting

In Japanese, Jotaro was voiced by Jūrōta Kosugi in the OVAs, but has been voiced by Daisuke Ono since '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle''. Ono first learned of the series when he was studying in college during his free time and came to enjoy the manga. He felt pressure when doing Jotaro's voice, stating that "Jotaro's a representative character of the series." The audition process for the ''Stardust Crusaders'' television series was separate from that of the game he previously worked on. Ono had to re-audition for Jotaro's character. He further said "Jotaro is a character who's cool and collected and on the verge of boiling over all at the same time. He takes those two contradictory elements and makes them work together at a high level."

In English, Jotaro was voiced by Abie Hadjitarkhani in the OVAs, and Matthew Mercer in the television anime. Mercer first learned of the series at an anime convention in 1996, where he was impressed by an episode of Jotaro facing Dio. As a result, Mercer becoming Jotaro's English actor was, according to him, "a huge nerd full circle." In the recording of the early episodes, Mercer was excited with the lines he was given. In the pilot episodes of the dub, while Jotaro was still voiced by Mercer, his Stand, Star Platinum, was voiced by Dio's voice actor, Patrick Seitz. Mercer would become the official voice for Star Platinum after the pilot episodes.

Appearances

In ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure''

''Stardust Crusaders''

A Japanese high school delinquent, Jotaro Kujo, appears as the protagonist of ''Stardust Crusaders''. Jotaro has been arrested, and refuses to leave his cell, believing he is possessed by an evil spirit. After being called by Holly, Joseph's daughter and Jotaro's mother, Joseph arrives with an associate, Mohammed Avdol. They explain that Jotaro's "evil spirit" is actually a manifestation of his fighting spirit, called a Stand, and reveal that they possess Stands as well. Joseph explains that the sudden appearance of their Stands is caused by the nemesis of his grandfather, Jonathan Joestar: Dio Brando. Soon after, Jotaro defeats the first of these assassins, Noriaki Kakyoin, managing to rescue him from the influence of Dio's parasitic flesh bud. Holly soon becomes gravely ill due to a Stand manifesting in her, which is slowly killing her due to her reserved personality. With little hesitation, Jotaro, Joseph, Avdol, and Kakyoin begin a journey to Egypt to kill Dio and save Holly's life. On the way, they are joined by another reformed assassin named Jean Pierre Polnareff, who seeks to avenge his sister, whose murderer is among Dio's forces and Iggy, a troublesome dog who developed a Stand and was captured by Avdol offscreen.

After Avdol and Iggy are murdered by the assassin Vanilla Ice, the remainders of the group ultimately find Dio and escape his mansion as the sun sets. A chase across Cairo follows, leading to Kakyoin confronting Dio and his Stand, The World. Though fatally wounded by The World, Kakyoin deduces the Stand's ability to stop time for a few seconds and relays it to Joseph by using Emerald Splash on a nearby clock tower before dying. Joseph is able to pass that information on to Jotaro, but is also fatally wounded by Dio, who uses his blood to increase the duration of his ability. Jotaro then fights Dio alone, slowly discovering that he shares Dio's time-stopping ability, due to Star Platinum having similar abilities to The World. The battle ends with Jotaro defeating Dio using the Timestop ability and subsequently killing him, before transfusing Dio's blood back into Joseph, and destroying the vampire for good by exposing his remains to the sun. Jotaro and Joseph then bid Polnareff farewell before returning to Japan, as Holly has made a full recovery.

''Diamond is Unbreakable''

In the fourth story arc, '' Diamond Is Unbreakable'', Jotaro arrives in Morioh, Japan where he meets the new protagonist Josuke Higashikata who, being Joseph's illegitimate son, is technically Jotaro's uncle despite Jotaro being older than him. They investigate the crimes of a Stand-using serial killer, Yoshikage Kira, as Josuke becomes involved in Jotaro's search for the Stand-creating Bow and Arrow. After Jotaro, Josuke's classmate Koichi Hirose, and ally Rohan Kishibe arrive on the scene in the final confrontation, Kira attempts to use a paramedic to activate his Stand Bites the Dust and rewind time once more, but is stopped by Koichi and Jotaro. Kira is then accidentally run over by an arriving ambulance and dies. Following the battle, Jotaro leaves Morioh with an older Joseph Joestar who joined him in his adventure earlier.

''Golden Wind''

In '' Golden Wind'', Jotaro asks Koichi to go on a mission to Italy. His objective was to get a skin sample of a boy named Haruno Shiobana, which would then be given to the Speedwagon Foundation for analysis. Sometime later, Koichi reported back to Jotaro that Haruno Shiobana, who now goes by Giorno Giovanna, was a Stand user. Jotaro then revealed to Koichi that Giorno was the son of Dio and wanted to get the skin sample to confirm this. However, now knowing that he was a Stand user, Jotaro called off the mission.

''Stone Ocean''

In '' Stone Ocean'', Jotaro comes to visit his imprisoned daughter, Jolyne Cujoh, and informs her that a disciple of Dio's framed her so that he could kill her in prison, and urges her to escape. This plan goes awry when a Stand named Whitesnake uses its power to remove Jotaro's Stand and memories, in the form of discs. Jotaro sinks into a deathlike state, and Jolyne must find a way to recover the discs from Whitesnake's user, the mysterious prison chaplain Enrico Pucci.

She succeeds in sending both of Jotaro's discs to the Speedwagon Foundation. Jotaro defends Jolyne and her friends from Pucci. However, Pucci is able to survive and realizes he can use his new Stand C-Moon to replicate the gravitational conditions required for his plan. Unlocking his ultimate stand, Made in Heaven, Pucci speeds up time itself causing the rapid acceleration of the world around Pucci and the Joestar group. Pucci aims Made in Heaven to maneuver Jolyne's Stand Stone Free into successfully killing her ally Narciso Anasui, but Jotaro is able to stop time. Made in Heaven greatly shortens Jotaro's time stop, and upon saving Jolyne from Pucci's attack, Jotaro and Ermes Costello are killed in front of Emporio Alniño, and Jolyne gives her life so Emporio can survive.

The universe then promptly collapses, or "runs out of time". Although Pucci accelerates time once more, creating a new universe, where everything is the same but people have precognition and "fate", Emporio uses Weather Report to kill Pucci. The universe collapses, and another cycle of time leads to a new universe with no precognition and no Pucci. In this new universe, Emporio meets alternate versions of Jolyne, Ermes, Anasui, and Weather Report who all go by different names, and with Pucci never existing they never go to jail. They all go together to meet the alternate version of Jotaro.

Other appearances

Jotaro appears in the live-action adaption of '' Diamond is Unbreakable'', '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter I'', portrayed by Yusuke Iseya.

Jotaro makes an appearance in the video game '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle'' as a playable fighter.

In the video game '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven'' Jotaro and his allies, who had just defeated Dio, are attacked by friends and enemies who have either disappeared or died along the way. They are then approached by a young Robert E. O. Speedwagon, who possesses a piece of the Saint's Corpse that allows him to travel through time and space as well as vanquish the evil influence possessing the other characters. He leads Jotaro and his allies on a journey through time, space, and alternate universes, in order to stop another iteration of Dio. This alternate Dio defeated his timeline's version of the Joestars and has attained a Stand known as "The World: Over Heaven", which allows him to rewrite reality.

Though Dio succeeds in absorbing the souls of the Joestar lineage and the Saint's Corpse parts, Jotaro manages to defeat him as his Stand develops the same powers since it is the same Stand as The World. After killing Heaven Ascension Dio, Jotaro uses his new powers to rewrite his timeline so that the Joestars and their allies who died in Parts 1-8 survived. He is also shown attempting to be a better father to Jolyne, even bringing her to Morioh with him during the events of Part 4.

The character of Jotaro is also present in the ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' crossover games '' Famicom Jump II: Saikyō no Shichinin'', ''Jump Super Stars'', ''Jump Ultimate Stars'', and ''Jump Force''.

In a collaboration with the anime adaptation of Stone Ocean for a limited amount of time, Jotaro in his Stone Ocean appearance is one of the playable characters of ''Monster Strike'', and a limited starter pack with him and Jolyne as one character from July 15 to August 2, 2022.

Reception

Critical reception to Jotaro's character has been positive. Comic Book Resources regarded Jotaro's character as one of the best elements of his story arc based on how active he is despite his silent personality, comparing him with heroes from 1980s. At the same time, the writer felt it was "impossible to hate" Jotaro despite early conceptions from the audience that he lacked a personality. Reviewing ''Stardust Crusaders'' for Anime News Network, Rebecca Silverman enjoyed seeing Part 2's Joseph team up with Jotaro. Another element in the narrative was Jotaro's responsibility when dealing with an innocent girl who might act as a weak point. The reviewer suggested a parallel between her and Jotaro and Joseph and Caesar in the previous arc where "ultimately Caesar's protection of Joseph cost him his life." Kotaku liked Jotaro's design, and joked about how the hat is always worn. Despite not reaching legal smoking age for Japan in ''Stardust Crusaders'', Jotaro often smokes in the manga series. When the series was adapted into a television series, Jotaro's face was covered in black when smoking. Kotaku found this censorship as one of the most ridiculous ever done in anime as even though Jotaro's face is covered, his cigar can be clearly seen. THEM Anime Reviews criticized how the OVAs primarily focused on Jotaro rather than his allies and criticized his constant yelling when facing Dio.

UK Anime Network praised how "bizarre" his quest to save his mother is, as his great-great-grandfather's body is being used by the nemesis, Dio. Joel Loynds of The Linc enjoyed the distinct personalities of ''Jojo's Bizarre Adventure'', pointing out how Jotaro's stoicness contrasts with Joseph. The Stand he possesses, Star Platinum, was praised due to how it fights alongside Jotaro using a barrage of multiple punches while Jotaro constantly yells the Japanese word "Ora". Anime UK News praised the fight Jotaro has with the gambler D'Arby, finding it unique among fight sequences presented in shonen demographic as rather than employing brutality, they instead play poker. On the other hand, Nick Creamer from Anime News Network felt that Jotaro was too overpowered due to how he often defeats enemies using brute force in early episodes of Part 3.

''The Fandom Post'' enjoyed Jotaro's inclusion in Part 4 and how the characters had to find other antistereotypical ways to defeat villains that avoided brute force. Manga.Tokyo enjoyed the meeting between Jotaro and Josuke for going from an interesting conversation about the Joestar bloodline to an intense fight scene when the former insults the latter's hair. Anime News Network praised how Jotaro interacts with the lead of Part 4, Josuke, finding both characters appealing. In a ''Diamond is Unbreakable'' festival event, Daisuke Ono performed Jotaro's catchphrase, a multitude of "ora"s. Manga–.Tokyo described it as "a moment any JoJo fan wouldn't want to miss".

In retrospect, Thrilist commented that Jotaro possessed several positive qualities which are in parallel with his daughter during ''Stone Ocean''. IGN felt that Jotaro's decay in ''Stone Ocean'' provided an interesting premise for Jolyne to explore in this storyline as she was also felt to be in possession of a Stand more interesting to see play than Star Platinum. Both Polygon and Anime Feminist agreed that Jotaro had become a typical poor father figure to Jolyne, a common trend that anime and manga explore though the former enjoyed how during the series, father and daughter have to work together to defeat the villain showing in the process a more caring side to his persona. Comic Book Resources reflected on how Jotaro managed to mature in the series' parts as he originally acts like a delinquent with poor behaviour in ''Stardust Crusaders'', a mentor figure to Josuke in the next arc, and how he cares for Jolyne more than his actual missions in ''Stone Ocean'', despite initially coming across as a poor father like the one he has.

Jotaro has been used as a piece of merchandise including such as super action figures by Medicos Entertainment, Nendoroids from Good Smile Company in his Stardust Crusaders and Stone Ocean appearances, earphones sets from Bilibili, clothes, wena 3 smart watches by Sony, and chocolates by Godiva.

A life-size statue of Jotaro along with Dio Brando made by Medicos Entertainment has been featured in Wonder Fest. An attraction in Cinema 4-D based on the fight between Jotaro and Dio Brando had been created by Universal Studios Japan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kujo, Jotaro
Anime and manga characters who can move at superhuman speeds
Anime and manga characters with superhuman strength
Comics characters introduced in 1989
Fictional biologists
Fictional characters who can manipulate time
Fictional characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability
Fictional characters with superhuman senses
Fictional Japanese people in anime and manga
Fictional murdered people
Fictional vampire hunters
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Male characters in anime and manga
Teenage characters in anime and manga