A lot of manga and anime series have been able to connect with fans and leave a mark on the industry, but Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has been entertaining audiences and surpassing expectations for nearly 35 years. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has been able to endure for so long because it’s not afraid to make drastic changes and mix up its formula, whether that’s in response to characters, storytelling, or the way in which individuals fight against each other.

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The emergence of powerful Stands is an important turning point for the series and these forces continue to manifest in wildly diverse ways. Stands are primarily beholden to the whims of their users, but there are still a small selection of Stands that are able to play by their own rules.

11 Empress Is A Bloody Mess

The Empress punches Joseph in the face - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

There are a handful of Stands from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure that get endless mileage from functioning as parasitic life forms. Joseph Joestar learns the hard way just how frustrating these Stands can be when Nena's Empress bonds with him after he makes contact with her blood. Empress manifests as a wart, which progressively becomes more humanoid in nature until it rebels against the host that it's linked with. Empress isn't that much of a challenge for Joseph's Hermit Purple, but it still makes an impact due to the bold, sentient nature that it brings into the series.

10 Judgement Is A Veritable Monkey’s Paw Of Madness

Anime JoJos Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders Judgement Stand Polnareff

Stardust Crusaders is the first JoJo chapter that experiments with Stands, and many of the initial entities that are encountered draw inspiration from different Tarot cards. Judgement manifests in the form of a gigantic robot, but it suffers a bit of an identity crisis since it considers itself to be a genie. Judgement is physically powerful and gains deeper strength with how it's able to turn individuals' wishes into morbid twists of fate. Judgement pushes a brash, cocky attitude, which seems to be completely independent of its user, Cameo, who prefers to hide in the shadows.

9 Anubis Is A Creepy Stand Who’s Developed Beyond Having A User

Anubis controlled the minds of his users - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

Plenty of Stardust Crusaders’ Stands embrace Egyptian iconography for their designs, with Anubis being one of the most vicious examples. Anubis is such a unique sentient Stand because it's technically without a user.

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Anubis is connected to a scimitar and scabbard, where the temptation of these treasures is enough to bring Anubis' murderous will into action. Anubis aggressively hounds Jotaro Kujo and company, who are eventually able to overpower it as a team and restrict the scimitar and scabbard to a watery fate in the Nile River.

8 Surface Turns Into A Perfect Copy Of Whoever It Targets

Hazamada's Surface mannequin - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable

Diamond is Unbreakable is a significant turning point for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure as Araki's series adopts considerably more playful and creative enemy Stands. Surface is Toshikazu Hazamada’s Stand, whose design pulls from the idea of a mannequin or drawing model.

Surface is a sentient Stand who independently functions from its user, but what's particularly chilling about it is that it has no personality of its own. Surface’s appeal is that it duplicates someone else, from their fingerprints down to their personality and mannerisms, which makes identifying them as an imposter nearly impossible. This becomes quite the frustration for Josuke Higashikata.

7 Echoes Act 3 Turns Into Koichi’s Most Trusted Companion

Koichi and Echoes in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Koichi Hirose from Diamond is Unbreakable gains a Stand that progressively develops, which is such an entertaining concept that unfortunately doesn't get put into greater use throughout JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Koichi is at first quite terrified by his burgeoning Stand, Echoes, but the two cultivate a touching bond. Echoes evolves into different Acts, with Act 3 being the most powerful and also a fully sentient humanoid Stand. Echoes Act 3 can engage in conversations with Koichi and become an invaluable ally, especially with the improved strength of his Freeze ability.

6 Cheap Trick Uses Its Sentience To Taunt Its New Users Into Submission

Cheap Trick on Rohan's back - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable

Rohan Kishibe is a self-interested mangaka who is often presented as a frustration to Josuke and his friends, yet he occasionally gets into his own complex Stand problems. Cheap Trick is one of the more dangerous and intimidating Stands to come out of Diamond is Unbreakable.

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Originally the Stand of Masazo Kinoto, Cheap Trick will acquire a new user and fasten himself to the back of whoever witnesses him. This results in the death of the original Stand user. Cheap Trick attaches itself to Rohan's back and perpetually taunts him until he's able to outsmart the Stand's gimmick.

5 Stray Cat Is A True Stand Anomaly That Combines Plant Life With A Feline

Stray Cat inside Yoshikage Kira's Killer Queen - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable

Diamond is Unbreakable takes many leaps when it comes to Stands and plotting, with the series' final climax expertly tying together many seemingly disparate elements. Stray Cat is one of the stranger Stands to ever emerge in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. For one, it's the reincarnation of a cat, Tama, but it also manifests as a living plant that can launch air bubbles as its offensive power. This bizarre plant and cat hybrid plays a crucial role during the end of Diamond is Unbreakable, yet it remains a true wild card since one can never truly be sure of its intentions.

4 Sex Pistols Have Endless Personality And Become A Golden Wind Favorite

Mista's Sex Pistols riding on bullets - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind

Golden Wind is many people's favorite installment out of the larger JoJo canon, and much of that excitement has to do with the lovable members of Bucciarati's gang. Guido Mista is a gun-toting gang member whose Stand, Sex Pistols, is conveyed through a collection of six sentient bullet-like figures.

Compared to some other JoJo Stands, Sex Pistols have personality to spare, with each of numbers 1 through 7 (excluding number 4) leaning into a different stereotypical behavior. It's so much fun to watch Mista's Stand bullets argue with themselves and pick on each other, yet they know they're strongest when they cooperate together as a team.

3 Baby Face’s Sentient Nature Makes The Disturbing Stand Even More Horrific

Melone's Baby Face Stand riding a motorcycle

Golden Wind includes some of the most twisted and sadistic villains that have ever threatened heroes from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Some characters and Stands really push boundaries, and Melone's Baby Face might even go too far. Baby Face is a quadrupedal computer that synthesizes DNA, only to then go on and impregnate a target for the purpose of producing an offspring of pure vengeance. Melone fills Baby Face with biased information to guarantee that the new Stand is the perfect creation to eliminate Bruno Bucciarati.

2 Spice Girl Feels Like Trish’s Best Self Actualized In Stand Form

Trish's Spice Girl revealed on the plane

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind is structured in such a manner where the protection of Trish Una is a crucial objective, but Trish doesn't really get a chance to come into her own and develop her own Stand, Spice Girl, until the later chapters of the series. It's a very inspirational moment when it's revealed that Trish is also a Stand User and Spice Girl is vital in the war against the unpredictable Notorious B.I.G. Stand. Spice Girl functions on her own and seems to have a much more intense killer instinct than Trish.

1 Gold Experience Requiem Evolves Into Sentient Perfection

JoJos Bizarre Adventure Giorno Giovanna Gold Experience Requim

Golden Wind’s final arc revolves around the retrieval of the prolific Stand Arrow, which has the power to evolve Stands in unbelievable ways. Diavolo is deeply focused on this goal, but Giorno Giovanna ultimately beats him and is able to turn his already powerful Stand, Gold Experience, into Gold Experience Requiem. Gold Experience Requiem traps Diavolo in a looped eternity of death, and it's proof of just how unstoppable a Stand can become with the help of a Stand Arrow. Giorno has good battle sense, but Gold Experience Requiem is imbued with confidence to carry things out on his own.

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