Dio Brando
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| Dio Brando | |
| (ディオ・ブランドー) | |
 |
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| Namesake | Ronnie James Dio (first name) Marlon Brando (last name) |
|---|---|
| Debut | Vol. 1, Chapter 1: The Coming of Dio |
| Final Appearance | Vol. 28, Chapter 264: Dio's World (part 18) |
| Seiyū | Nobuo Tanaka |
| Voice actor(s) | Andrew Chaikin |
| Profile | |
| Age | 122 (Part 3)[1], 21 (Part 1)[2] |
| Date of birth | 1867[3] |
| Date of Death | 1987[4] |
| Blood type | ??? |
| Eye color | Red |
| Hair color | Blond |
| Height | ??? cm |
| Weight | ??? kg |
| Stand | The World
(ザ・ワールド za wārudo) |
| Relatives |
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| Techniques | |
Dio Brando is a character from the anime and manga Jojo's Bizarre Adventure who was born in England in the 19th century. He is the most prominent villain in the series.
Contents |
[edit] Story
[edit] Series 1: Phantom Blood
Dio is the son of Dario Brando, an alcoholic and abusive father. Back when Dio was just a boy, he was brought into the household of George Joestar after the mysterious death of his father, so as to repay the debt He owed Dio's father for saving his life. But soon Dio's personality caused trouble for George's young son, Jonathan Joestar. Even more of a sociopath than his father, Dio was resolute to shatter Jonathan's spirit and take his place as the favored son, even going so far as to arrange for Jonathan's dog Danny to be burned to death.
Initially, Dio is able earn the trust of the patriarch of the Joestar family through deceit (and at Jonathan's expense). However, his plans of taking over the Joestar household were discovered by Jonathan when he discovered that not only had Dio poisoned his biological father to death, he was doing the same to his adoptive father, all to take the Joestar estate for his own.
Determined not to be stopped, and understanding the potential to enjoy power over all things instead of just the Joestar estate, Dio wears and activates the Stone Mask, becoming a nearly unstoppable vampire. His seemingly supernatural abilities are explained as the exercise of full potential of human body. He is able to walk on walls, and regenerate his body faster than fire can consume it. He is able to pressurize liquid in his eyeballs and then create small openings on pupils, eventually create two fluid jets powerful enough to slice stone and kill living things. He is also able to vaporize his body fluid rapidly enough to freeze anything he touches. However, this is at the expense of having his body be sustained by sheer willpower alone. A sufficiently powerful vital force--specifically, sunlight or the Hamon force--will negate the sustaining force's presence and disintegrate the long-unliving body.
At the end of Series 1, Dio's body was destroyed, but his severed head managed to kill Jonathan Joestar and together they sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
[edit] Series 3: Stardust Crusaders
The anime series and video game are based on this third arc, which occurs about 100 years later[1]. At the bottom of the sea, Dio's severed head reattached itself to Jonathan Joestar's lifeless body (Giving Dio the same star birthmark as the members of the Joestar family). Dio's casket is recovered by fishermen, who are implied to have been killed by Dio as he awakened. He finds that he is now in the year 1985. After he returns to land he developes a Stand, a sort of "ghost bodyguard", giving him new abilities on top of his vampire powers. For most of Series 3, Dio is off screen and in the shadows, and the question of exactly what his stand "The World" does is a mystery.
In Series 1, Dio's powers were more bio-organic and slimy, but for the most part in Series 3 he only utilizes the "evil implants"; a parasite that brainwashes Polnareff and Kakyoin and are generated from Dio's hair (In the fighting game JoJo's Bizarre Adventure it is the vector of attack when he does the move called "Charisma"). Eventually it is discovered that "The World" is a sort of brother power to "Star Platinum", which has great strength and can stop time, making Dio seem to be teleporting or moving at impossible speed. Dio's ambition is to create a perfect world for him and his servants. In the interim, he seeks to drain for himself the blood of the Joestar lineage, which will help him to fully fuse with Jonathan Joestar's body and take better control of World. Once he does this, his powers will gradually increase, until he is able to stop time for as long as he likes.
In the beginning of the story arc Dio's World, Dio mainly battles Kakyoin and Joseph. Kakyoin is able to use his Stand make a barrier in which Dio can't escape from without getting hurt. Dio uses The World to stop time and destroy this barrier and punch him through the stomach and back. Before dying, Kakyoin realizes the nature of World's time-stop power and uses his last strength to give Joseph a message. Joseph is able to tell Jotaro this before he also gets killed by Dio's Stand.
After a long and bloody battle between Dio and Jotaro, which lasted from the end of Volume 27 to the end of Volume 28, Jotaro is able to stop time just before Dio drops a steamroller on him, and wounds Dio's leg. Dio, determined not to lose, squirts some blood out of his leg and into Jotaro's eyes. He then attempts to escape but to no avail. In the end, Jotaro lands a punch which connects with a kick from Dio. The kick connects at approximately the same point on World's leg as where Dio broke his. Because injuries to a stand and it's user will echo onto each other, this is where World's own structure was weakenest. Jotaro's hand breaks but Dio's upper body starts to crumble, and his head shatters. Jotaro, and some doctors from Speedwagon Foundation (An oil and medicne company loyal to the Joestar family), are able to do a blood transfusion between Joseph Joestar's body and the lower half of Dio's body. The transfusion is able to revive Joseph, and not long after that, they lay Dio Brando's remains in the middle of the Sahara desert to evaporate with the rising sun.
[edit] Legacy
In Part 6, it is revealed to the Joestars that his re-emergance was planned to create a perfect world when the moon reached a certain angle and time. He stumbled upon Enrico Pucci not long before Part 3 and "healed" his disfigured foot for him. After piercing Pucci with a Stand arrow, the two spent considerable time together, plotting and scheming. He questioned Pucci's loyalty to him, wondering why he didn't use White Snake to remove The World from him. Pucci had explained that he loved Dio as he had loved God, and thus worshipped him too much to betray him. Ensuring that he wouldn't completely fade, he left one of his bones in Pucci's care. Dio's presence continues to haunt the series, emerging in flashbacks and his disfigured sons. His bone played a vital plot element for the first half of Part 6, an odd green baby inheriting the Stand that came from it.
[edit] Personality
Dio Brando's treacherous, sadistic nature may be partially explained by his abusive upbringing at the hands of an alcoholic father, whom he later killed. He is also ambitious, narcissist, arrogant and megalomaniacal. He will do anything to get what he wants, even if it means trampling people, like he did to Jonathan Joestar when they were young. However, Dio is not entirely evil, although he tends to approach it. He shows a good side to those who are good to him. In particular, he has shown favorable attitudes towards Enrico Pucci, who also showed loyalty in return. Dio also has a passion for reading, as he is found in the library of his Egypt mansion at times.
Unless provoked or deemed an obstacle, Dio will normally not attack anything or anybody (although probably more out of regarding them as of no consequence, and so not worthy of attention, than anything akin to kindness). He will first try persuading people to work for him, then fight them, if they oppose.
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Childhood
Dio's appearance in the 1st chapter. He has blond hair and a handsome face. (Many fans who first see him may believe his hair to be white, due to the loss of details from the manga's black-and-white illustrations.)
[edit] Shadow form[6]
Dio does not have a visible face as an effect of the shadowy darkness of his mansion. He has white and flowing hair. He is topless, exposing Jonathan's muscular body (of which his head is sewn in place) and wears green pants with suspenders, gray clogs, black shiny cuffs on both wrists and heart-shaped knee guards. As of JoJo's Venture, his voice is also distorted (an effect created by the writers to add mystery). This form of Dio is also called "J'yaku no Kenshin Dio." (Evil Incarnation of Dio)
[edit] Fuku form
Just like the Shadow form, only Dio's face is seen, his hair is blond, wears a jacket with a tank-top underneath. He now also wears a heart-shaped hairband, and rings for his cuffs. This is his form during the beginning of the Dio's World story arc.
[edit] Enraged/Armored form
Dio transforming into his ultimate form, after sucking Joseph Joestar's blood. The description is like his fuku form minus the jacket and the heart-shaped hairband. He now sports a deranged and homicidal look and mannerisms, losing his cool touch, and his hair is now disheveled, mostly oriented upwards. This is his form during the latter half of the Dio's World story arc.
[edit] Stand
The World, very similar to Jotaro's Star Platinum, this stand has phenomenal strength, senses and stamina - but faster and more accurate[9]. It can also stop the time (for a longer duration as well)[9]. He also has at least a measure of Joseph's psychic abilities[10] (specifically, the ability to create a vision on a photograph). A possible explanation for the fact that The World has psychic powers that are only used once is that Hirohiko Araki (The creator of the manga) implied for it to have the power of all of the stands.
It's implied in Part 6 that he wanted to use his stand to create a perfect world for himself and a handful of subordinates. He enlisted Enrico Pucci as his living "conscience", in case he would go crazy and be "off track".
[edit] In Videogames
[edit] JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
[edit] Shadow Dio
Even without an active Stand, he can deal a lot of damage with full offensive attacks. He also has a reversal move that helps this playstyle to be more effective, which can be used either for offense or defense.
Throw Knives, while not too fast for up-close attacks, can push enemies further back. The angle of the knives can be varied, and he can throw knives twice.
His eyebeam projectile can be charged to an incredibly powerful and unblockable level.
His Stand attacks are good for surprises, and for juggling. Combined with his own attack, he deals a lot of damage in a short time, more so within The World, when he stops time.
His Super Combo, Punishment, deals heavy damage, if it connects. However, it can't be incorporated into combos easily. His other Super Combo, called "Charisma" takes two levels of power, but the buds coming out of his hair is unblockable and homes in on the enemy. The slow start-up animation of this move requires it to be a part of the combo, in order to be able to perform the move without being interrupted by the enemy's attacks.
[edit] Dio
In contrast to Jotaro, Dio is more effective with his Stand on. His Stand combos are good and effective at dealing large damage to the enemy in a short time. As such, Dio specializes in quick disposition of the enemy.
His Blazing Strikes can be manipulated to hit low, where the enemy must guard low. This makes his attacks unpredictable, keeping opponents on tiptoe. His eyebeams, now with different commands, are now completely unblockable, though the animation is notably slower.
His Road Roller, though weak in JoJo's Venture, now deals bigger damage in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. His Chi no Shoukan (Bloody Summoning) requires the enemy to be hit before he sucks their blood. The scene when he connects with the move is bloody, with a cutscreen of the enemy's face being punctured by Dio's fingers.
His main problem is that his super moves are not possible to be integrated into combos in such a way that they will chain together. However, his super moves have a degree of invincibility, which enables him to dominate in close-quarter battles, even though predictable. To be able to use him well, Dio players must have the reflexes to perform their super moves at the right moment.
His The World - Time Stop is deadly at 10 levels of power. He can deploy a lot of knives and perform Road Roller before the power gague goes below level 1. If the enemy is big in size, the more the enemy will take damage from the knives. It is a gamble though to successfully perform The World against a human player, but the damage it inflicts is worth the effort.
[edit] Trivia
- Dio means "God" in Italian.
- People that pledges (religious) loyalty to him in the series, almost to a point of godly worship, which is somewhat due to his name, include Enya Geil, N'Dour, Vanilla Ice, Jongalli A, and Enrico Pucci. Many of those under his influence utter the words "Master Dio, I pledge my loyalty to you!" Kakyoin, when he was brainwashed by Dio, also uttered the same line.[6]
- Dio sucks blood through tentacles in his fingers, and not through his mouth. Yet, he's illustrated with short fangs, although they're never used to drain his foes.
- Dio was able to impregnate four different women after his awakening, all bearing him sons. The most famous of his sons is Giorno. All four sons became Stand Users.
[edit] In popular culture
- Zephyr, one of the bosses in the video game Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow , pays homage to Dio Brando. Besides a habit of bending over backwards, he has the ability to throw knives, as well as freeze time with a shout of Toki yo Tomare!!! ("Time has stopped!"). He also faces the protagonist in a clock tower, a reference to Dio Brando's fight with Jonathan Joestar and Kakyoin.
[edit] A note on WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
The eerie cry of "WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" (ウリイイイイイイ uriiiiiii, pronounced ree) is a shriek given off by the vampires throughout JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. While all vampires in the series are prone to doing so, this noise is most commonly associated with Dio Brando.
A resurgence of popular interest in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure occurred when "WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY" began making the rounds as an Internet phenomenon on Futaba Channel imageboards. Sparked by a Flash movie called "muda.swf" which features stick figures performing the signature attacks of five different characters from Parts 3 and 5 of the series(This was due to the fact that only series 3 and 5 had games at the time). Dio Brando's clip features his use of The World (often pronounced intentionally as "Za Warudo", to mimic how Dio pronounces it in Japanese) to freeze time, throwing a barrage of knives, and finishing his dying opponent off by dropping a steamroller on him, atop which he leans back and exclaims "WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!". This proved hilariously random to those unfamiliar with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
The recent English publication of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (which begins at the start of the third arc) uses the spelling "WREEEEEEEEEE", which reinforces the proper pronunciation (at the cost of obscuring the connection to the Internet fad).
In addition, it is interesting to note that in Part Five of the manga, during the battle with Cioccolatta, the stand of Dio's son, Giorno Giovanna also cries "WRYYYYYYY" with an indefinite amount of Y's[11] (the Y's continue beyond the page). This implies that the battle cry may be hereditary, since Giorno is not a vampire.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Volume 13, chapter 116: The Truth Behind the Evil Spirit
- ^ Volume 1, chapter 6: A Letter From the Past
- ^ Volume 1, chapter 1: The Coming of Dio
- ^ Volume 28, chapter 265: The Long Journey Ends, Goodbye My Friends.
- ^ a b c d From the Game Jump Super Stars
- ^ a b c From the Game JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
- ^ Volume 6, chapter 50: The Immortal Monster
- ^ Volume 3, chapter 25: The Power of the Mask That Freezes Blood
- ^ a b From the stand database in the JOJO A-GO!GO! art book.
- ^ Volume 13, chapter 117: Those Who Carry the Mark of the Star
- ^ Volume 60, chapter 563: Green Day and Oasis (Part 9)
[edit] See Also
- Villains of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood
- Villains of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
- Giorno Giovanna
- Enrico Pucci
- Muda (battle cry)
| JoJo's Bizarre Adventure by Hirohiko Araki | |
|---|---|
| Jojo universe | |
| Series: | Phantom Blood | Battle Tendency | Stardust Crusaders | Diamond is Unbreakable | Golden Wind | Stone Ocean | STEEL BALL RUN |
| Jojos: | Jonathan Joestar | Joseph Joestar | Jotaro Kujo | Josuke Higashikata | Giorno Giovanna | Jolyne Kujo | Johnny Joestar |
| Antagonists: | Dio Brando | Pillar Men | Kira Yoshikage | Diavolo | Enrico Pucci |
| Characters: | Minor Characters of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure |
| Miscellaneous: | Videogames | Muda (battle cry) | Stands | Manga chapters | Items | Timeline | Deaths |
