Jojo’s Bizarre Adventureis one of the most popular anime and manga series of all time, beloved for its strange approach to storytelling. The series follows the Joestar family through the ages, each “Part” focusing on a new story with a new member of the lineage, from the original Jonathan Joestar fighting his horrific vampire brother, to the aloof Jotaro seeking to finish Jonathan’s battle, or the rebellious Jolyne trying to break out of prison.
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Through those many parts, there are plenty of lovable and outlandish characters to get attached to such as the Joestars, their villainous enemies, and the team each one of them amasses for their journeys. While they may not be the deepest of characters sometimes, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure offers plenty of fun characters.
10Jean Pierre Polnareff
While each part is very different from the last, there are some similarities between all of them, such as a running trend for each part to have a secondary main character, usually the one closest to the main Jojo such as Jean Pierre Polnareff. Polnareff is an eccentric French man the group meets in Part 3. Originally a servant of Dio, he becomes the most loyal member of the group once un-brainwashed.
Polarneff serves to lighten up the overall very serious main cast of Part 3 with some good comedic relief, being an overall goofball with so much personality to him. But that’s not to say he’s treated like a joke, as he has his own character arc and story centering around loss and revenge that evolves through the part to result in a bitter but memorable ending for him.
9Jotaro Kujo
Each Jojo has their own appeals and strengths as a character, some more obvious and plain than others, such as with the most recognizable, Jotaro Kujo. Jotaro is the third Jojo, a young Japanese teenage delinquent who ends up having to journey across the world to save his family — as much as he may hate having to do that.
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Jotaro is far from the most interesting in his original part; it’s clear that in Part 3, Jotaro mainly serves to be a badass main character with hints of character thrown in. But he becomes far more interesting and fun to watch as the parts go on, with both Part 4 and 6 showing us deeper layers to his character and his true reasons behind his distant and standoffish personality. Jotaro is a character that only gets better and better with time.
8Okuyasu Nijimura
One of the challenges for making the side characters of a Jojo part is designing their Stands — they have to be balanced so they don’t overshadow the main character’s in terms of power — and Okuyasu Nijimura takes an interesting approach to accomplish this. Okuyasu Nijimura from Part 4 is a dimwitted teenager gifted with an incredibly powerful Stand who originally is an antagonist but ends up becoming the main character’s best friend.
Okuyasu has one defining character trait: he’s not the brightest bulb in the drawer and even admits this himself. This balances his OP status, as he rarely uses his Stand effectively. It also creates such a lovable idiot who bounces off of Josuke so well for such great chemistry. Whenever Okuyasu and Josuke are together, it’s an utter blast to watch.
7Joseph Joestar
While the series started rather plain with its main characters with Jonathan Joestar, it did not stay that way for long as the next Jojo, Joseph Joestar, is one of the most charismatic characters throughout the whole series. Joseph Joestar is the grandson of Jonathan and is a mischievous, immature, and hotheaded young man who gets drawn into a world-ending conflict.
Joseph is a far cry from his grandfather, playing plenty of jokes and being far from a gentleman, but he’s insanely entertaining to watch with his antics. One of the more interesting parts of Joseph compared to other characters is we get to see him grow old through the series, changing as he becomes an old man to be a little more mature but still the same goofy man you know and love.
6Dio Brando
Out of all of Jojo’s villains, there’s one that is easily the most iconic, having the most effect on the entire series: Dio Brando. Originally the adoptive brother of Jonathan Joestar, Dio became a vampire lord who continually returned and had his influence haunt the Joestar line out of his pure hatred for them and his lust for power.
Dio is far from the most complex villain, and aside from one other, he’s the closest we get to a purely evil for the sake of evil character in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. But, he does have his shining moments, such as his pure charisma within Part 1 or his more philosophical side and motivations being shown in Part 6. While he may not have much in his most famous appearance, Dio is a villain who has many sides to offer.
5Jolyne Cujoh
All the Jojos try to be distinct from one another, offering something new without much overlap, except for one special case where that overlap is used for excellent effect: The final Joestar, Jolyne Cujoh. Jolyne is the rebellious daughter of Jotaro, and she inherits his standoffish attitude from his youth, mixed with bitter contempt for those around her, which lands her in jail and at the center of an evil plot.
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While Jolyne may seem like a retread of the angry delinquent archetype that Jotaro was, she takes it in a brand-new direction, being less cold and far more fiery and snappy. Jolyne is loud and proud as a person, making her opinions and thoughts known at all times and not putting up with anything. She also goes through far more growth in her part than Jotaro, making her an excellent protagonist to bring things full circle.
4Enrico Pucci
Part of what makes Jojo villains feel so special compared to other shonen villains is how they never feel like just fodder for the hero to overcome; every main villain stands as an equal to their Jojo, and none show this better than Enrico Pucci. Pucci is the final villain of the original Joestar story, a priest who was one of Dio’s closest friends and who inherited his plan to bring Heaven to Earth.
Pucci is the second most terrifying villain in Jojo due to his sheer competency. He does not have the ego or sadism of previous villains; he is a cold and calculating man to a fault. The priest stands as analmost unstoppable threat in his part, as he’s always ahead of the heroes and unwavering in his goal, believing fully in his goals as a true fanatic. He’s the perfect villain to end off the story, an extension of the original evil of Dio but somehow worse.
3Foo Fighters
The later parts of Jojo’s like to go more strange with the characters they put in the main cast, from less friendly rivals, to morally nuanced characters, to even a sentient enemy Stand with Foo Fighters! Foo Fighters is a Stand that gives a colony of plankton intelligence and the ability to live like a person. After being beaten by Jolyne, they take the body of a prisoner and become her best friend.
Due to their nature as a stand, Foo Fighters can be a bit odd as they don’t quite understand the ways humans work, social conventions, or really much at all. But this results in them being easily excitable and curious, making for a fun-loving personality that is so fun in the quieter moments and bounces off the more serious Jolyne and Ermes perfectly! Foo Fighters is just plain delightful.
2Josuke Higashikata
There’s heavy debate among Jojo fans for who is the best among the Jojos, each one having their avid supporters, but at least in my eyes, none can hold a candle to Josuke Higashikata. Josuke is the fourth Joestar, a young teenager living in the sleepy little town of Morioh who gets dragged into uncovering the town’s mysteries when other Stand users begin to show up.
What makes Josuke so nice compared to the other Jojos is that he doesn’t feel made for the main character role like characters like Jotaro or Giorno do. He feels like a person first as he’s just a fun-loving teenager with a big heart, always goofing off with his friends and wanting to help them out. He’s just such a pleasant character to be around, and it helps make Part 4 as fun to watch or read as it is.
1Yoshikage Kira
In a series full of strange and bizarre people with so many lovable quirks, it may come as a surprise that perhaps the best character is one who appears the most ordinary at first glance: The serial killer known as Yoshikage Kira. Kira is a serial killer who terrorizes the town of Morioh, using his Stand to violently kill people and keep their hands as his prized possessions.
What makes Kira so special as an antagonist is how strangely human his motivations are, as Kira has no large scale plans like other villains; he simply wants to live a quiet life where he can have his sick enjoyments. This is reflected in his personality as well, being eerily calm to contrast with the horrific deeds he’s committing. To put it simply, Kira is simply any other guy off the street, and that’s what makes him so terrifying; he is the horror hidden in everyday life. It makes him great in a way that no other Jojo villain is, and marks him easily as the most memorable.
