JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a story that chronicles half a dozen generations of a single family’s history. It’s a series that changes with each new iteration, at times taking on radically different tones for a single story arc before moving on completely. It’s this approach to storytelling that’s kept the series alive and the cast memorable.
In the center of it all is Jotaro Kujo, the series’ third protagonist and arguably the face of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. He’s the hero the franchise goes back to time and time again, so it goes without saying that fans would be eager to learn more about him.
10 The Most Active JoJo By A Mile
No other character in the series appears with the same frequency as Jotaro Kujo. Joseph and DIO both appear in three parts, but Jotaro appears in four. Serving as the main character in Stardust Crusaders, a major character in Diamond is Unbreakable, a cameo in Vento Aureo, and then a supporting character in Stone Ocean.
He sticks with the series up until right before Stone Ocean reboots the series’ original continuity, which is a fitting fate for the JoJo who got to see most of the series pass by. With Parts 7 and 8 taking place in a new continuity, it’s unlikely Jotaro will be able to add a fifth Part to his resume anytime soon.
9 Star Platinum: The World Never Surpasses The World
During the final fight in Stardust Crusaders, DIO is able to use The World to stop time upwards to ten seconds at a time. As the fight progresses, Jotaro slowly begins to adapt to the time stop, developing his own version of the technique through his Stand—Star Platinum: The World. He’s able to keep up with and ultimately defeat DIO as a result.
But he never actually gets better at using his version of The World. By the end of the series, the best Jotaro can do with Star Platinum: The World is stop time for about five seconds. Failing to master The World very much contributes to Jotaro’s final defeat in Stone Ocean, as well... among other things, of course.
8 Jotaro Keeps The Joestar Legacy Present
Without Jotaro, Diamond is Unbreakable, Vento Aureo, and Stone Ocean would struggle to connect with the overarching Joestar legacy. They’re all Joestars, yes, but it’s Jotaro who really grounds them into the world of JoJo. For Josuke, it allows readers to experience the world of JoJo from a new perspective.
For Giorno, Jotaro’s brief presence through Koichi contextualizes the story properly, so audiences understand how it connects to the overarching story. For Jolyne, Jotaro’s role as her father allows Part 6 to explore the parental aspect of the series that JJBA tends to neglect. Above all else, Jotaro keeps the Joestar legacy fresh in memory.
7 How Jotaro Ruined His Marriage
Jotaro may be a good character, but that doesn’t mean he’s a good husband—not that this should surprise fans of the series. Stardust Crusaders very much shows a Jotaro who struggles to interact socially. He gets marginally better by Diamond is Unbreakable, but not to the point where his behavior wouldn’t cause problems.
Stone Ocean takes a rather morbidly realistic approach to Jotaro’s love life and has it revealed that Jotaro’s marriage fell apart because he was unable to balance his family life with work. Given who Jotaro is as a person, this only makes sense. It’s just too bad that Jolyne’s the one to suffer through it all.
6 Jotaro’s Favorite Film Is Never Cry Wolf
Never Cry Wolf is a big deal for Disney that often goes under-discussed. A 1983 film, Never Cry Wolf was the first movie Disney released under the Walt Disney Pictures label and is genuinely a masterpiece. It’s a film with heavy pro-environmental themes and one that requires a mature appreciation. For that to be Jotaro’s favorite film is interesting.
It’s a way of giving Jotaro a layer of depth that may have been difficult to organically express through dialogue. A small piece of trivia like this goes a long way in adding depth to a character. It certainly makes Jotaro more three dimensional.
5 Jotaro Becomes A Marine Biologist
David Production actually did a rather good job building up to this in the anime adaptation. During leisure scenes, Jotaro occasionally reads marine life magazines. The manga only has Jotaro become a marine biologist after the fact, but the anime correctly peppers in some early marine love for Jotaro.
This likely explains why he wears a white outfit in both Diamond is Unbreakable and Vento Aureo, but there’s nothing to indicate he isn’t still a marine biologist in Stone Ocean where he’s wearing a more traditional JJBA outfit. Either way, marine biology is clearly Jotaro’s passion regardless of medium. The man loves his fish.
4 Jolyne Is Jotaro’s Weakness
Stone Ocean doesn’t exactly have the happiest of endings for everyone involved. Or, at least it doesn’t get there happily. Jolyne and Jotaro have a terribly strained relationship all arc, and it doesn’t necessarily get better by the end. That said, Jotaro ends up losing his life after he’s distracted by Jolyne’s wellbeing.
For all of Jotaro’s faults, he deeply cared about Jolyne—to a fault. Jotaro couldn’t communicate himself properly with his daughter, and it ends up costing him his life. He’s presumably back to life in the Ireneverse, but it’s just not quite the same now, is it?
3 Jotaro’s Meant To Look Like Joseph
It should go without saying that family members should bear resemblance to one another, but the perpetual development of Araki’s art style throughout JoJo makes it difficult to see the similarities at times. This is where David Production comes in handy. In the anime, Jotaro really does look like Joseph when his cap his off.
A much angrier Joseph with fuller eyebrows, but Jotaro’s certainly not unlike his grandfather. This is even commented on in-universe during part 4 where Josuke’s mother mistakes Jotaro for Joseph. Interestingly, there are no real visual similarities between Jotaro and his daughter. That’s something the anime can easily fix.
2 The Last Real “JoJo”
For better or worse, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure really tries to make the nickname “Jojo” stick as each main character’s name early on. Jonathan mostly just goes by JoJo, Joseph uses JoJo as a nickname in some places, and Jotaro is occasionally called JoJo. After Jotaro, though, Araki drops the JoJo naming convention beyond the formality of it all.
Josuke, Giorno, and Jolyne are all JoJos, but they don’t actually go by JoJo in their stories, instead mainly just going by their own names. This ends up being something both Johnny and Josuke end up sharing in the Steel Ball Run continuity.
1 Jotaro And The Tarot In Part 3
The Tarot has an influence over all of Stardust Crusaders. It’s the namesake of all of the original Stands. While the series would eventually stray from this naming convention, it’s a notable starting point for Stand names. Interestingly, Jotaro’s name is a combination of both JoJo and “tarot.”
Given how Part 3 uses the Tarot as part of its general aesthetic and style, it’s appropriate that Jotaro would be named after such an important aspect of Stardust Crusader’s identity. It’s also likely a way of keeping Jotaro’s name similar enough to Jonathan’s and Joseph’s while still sounding appropriately Japanese.