Many shonen titles have a single hero the reader can rally behind such as the titular main character of Naruto, Son Goku in Dragon Ball , or Ichigo Kurosaki of Bleach fame. But Hirohiko Araki's long-running anime/manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is about a whole family tree of heroes, from Jonathan Joestar in the Victorian era to Jolyne Cujoh—in the manga only.
The famed hero of the third story arc is Jotaro Kujo, arguably the most popular and prominent JoJo hero of all. But the recently animated fifth arc brought us Giorno Giovanna, a clever and tough hero in his own right in sunny Italy. Both of these Joestar heroes are fine leads, but, now, one must ask: has Giorno proven himself to be number one, or has Jotaro set too high a bar for Giorno to compete with? Let's break it down.
10 Giorno: Idealist
It's good for a story's hero to have some concrete ideals to live by, so their character is more consistent and driven by internal forces and not just controlled by outside ideas. Giorno's ideals are a bit abstract, but they're there, and he's a young man of principle.
Giorno despises the vicious crime families of Italy, as Bucciarati does, and he only joined Passione so he could take down this crime family from within. He never lets the abundant forces of darkness get the better of him.
9 Jotaro: Cool Introduction
Jonathan Joestar casually strolled onto the scene in Phantom Blood, and, in late 1930s New York, Joseph Joestar made a fine impression when he backed up Smokey against some thuggish cops. But Jotaro took it to the next level.
In 1987 Japan, viewers are shown an imposing young man is sitting like a caged tiger in the shadows in a jail. It's Jotaro Kujo, and his mysterious powers allow him to survive gunshots and attract various objects to him. What's going on? The viewer will soon find out!
8 Giorno: Restraint
Even when people like Abbacchio get right in his face, Giorno doesn't just lash out and crush people under his fists. No, he's cool as a cucumber, and he knows better than to just unleash Gold Experience on anyone who looks at him wrong.
Giorno is tough with his enemies and gentle with his friends, which, in turn, makes him a finely balanced character. All that ties into Giorno's consistent principles, and it sets him apart from the many mafia thugs and assassins he meets.
7 Jotaro: Family Mission
True, Jotaro made a bad impression when he spoke badly to his mom, Holly Joestar, but he soon made up for it. Holly is afflicted with a plant-like stand that's slowly killing her, and Jotaro immediately steeled his resolve to help her, no matter what.
This is the heroic moment that fans were waiting for, and, sure enough, Jotaro won't let anyone or anything get in his way en route to Egypt to save his mother's life. It's Joseph who's more openly anxious about this, but Jotaro is taking it seriously, too. What a good son.
6 Giorno: Ultimate Beatdown
Both Giorno and Jotaro have stands that can deliver savage beatings with their bare fists, but Giorno's stand, Gold Experience, took it to the next level late in the story's fifth arc. Giorno struggled mightily against Cioccolata and his stand, Green Day, but he won.
And he didn't just win; Giorno made waves in the Shonen Jump world with an astonishing seven-page beatdown to punish Cioccolata for his cruel ways. This translated well to the small screen, too, as Gold Experience delivered that classic beatdown.
5 Jotaro: Freeze Time
What is Star Platinum capable of? As the first major stand seen in this anime, its powers are fairly straightforward: throw heavy punches, move quickly, and take a beating without falling down—but it later learned another trick while on the fly, something truly incredible.
Dio Brando's own stand, The World, can actually freeze time, and he killed Kakyoin this way and nearly killed Joseph, too. But, bit by bit, Jotaro figured out how to imitate this power, and it put him back on even ground with his immortal opponent. Not even Josuke or Giorno ever learned to master time itself.
4 Giorno: Healing
Gold Experience can not only throw some punches, but it is the master of life itself, and Giorno has figured out a few ways to put this power to use. He can heal anyone's wounds by taking a non-living object and morphing it into the victim's own flesh.
Unlike Josuke, Giorno can heal himself this way, and he even replaced his missing right eye when the stand called Baby Face deleted it from his body. Giorno also healed Mista when he was at the brink of death.
3 Jotaro: Later Appearances
Did Jotaro just change his outfit? He sure did. Like his grandfather, he appears more than once in the story of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and he made big waves in Diamond is Unbreakable. He traveled to Morioh to find a stand user in the Joestar family.
He met Josuke Higashikata, who was his uncle of sorts (despite being younger), and Jotaro joined Josuke in a few battles, such as against Kira. He even used The World's time-freezing power.
2 Giorno: Became Boss
Did Giorno change his outfit, too? He sure did, and for good reason. Once he defeated Diavolo, he became the ultimate stand master with Gold Experience Requiem, and he wasn't content to fade into the background of Italy.
Instead, he became the new boss, and a fascinating final scene shows him seated confidently as mafia members pay their respects, and Mista stands guard on the sunlit but chilling scene. Giorno is all grown up.
1 Jotaro: Classic Lines
True, Giorno likes to say "I, Giorno Giovanna, have a dream," but the best one-liners belong to Jotaro Kujo. He's got a tough, cool-guy attitude, and this makes him a natural at dispensing awesome one-liners for fans to quote.
He comments with "yare yare daze" ("good grief") whenever anything silly or tiresome happens, and his banter with Dio in the streets of Egypt have long since been immortalized in the anime fandom. If you have the courage to approach Dio, you'd better have some cool lines prepared like Jotaro did!