Joseph is still alive by the Stone Ocean
Despite being absent from both Vento Aureo and Stone Ocean, series creator Hirohiko Araki tried to make sure fans knew that Joseph wouldn’t die after the events of Diamond is Unbreakable. Considering his amnesia and old age, it makes sense that he will eventually make it.
However, that is not the case. This put Joseph in around 91 years old at the end of Stone Ocean. Of course, Season 6 doesn’t exactly end well for Joestars, and while Joseph may have survived to old age, it’s unlikely he got past Made in Heaven’s acceleration in a piece.
JoJo first appeared in many parts
While Jonathan Joestar may be the predecessor to the series, Joseph was JoJo, who laid the foundations for future main characters. Not only did he immediately usurp the throne of Jonathan as the main character, but actually became the main character of the storyline for three consecutive seasons.
Although his role in Season IV is generally minimal, he is the main character of Season II and Part III.
Joseph may have beaten DIO under normal circumstances
The DIO ended up killing Joseph fairly quickly in the final battle of the Stardust Crusaders, which was the only way the fight could unfold. In a blunt fight, Joseph would practically defeat DIO. Joseph is not only very cunning, but also the most powerful Hamon user in the entire series.
Unfortunately for him, the dull Pillars will get in the way, and Hermit Purple can just cause a lot of discomfort. With Hermit Purple and Hamon, he can defeat DIO quite easily, but since DIO has Jonathan’s body, Hamon is almost as active against vampires as well.
Joseph is the character appearing in the most film adaptations
Another reason that makes Joseph one of the more popular JoJos is the fact that he has appeared in quite a few anime adaptations. Until his appearance, he was tied to Jotaro for the time being. When Jotaro appeared in the OVA and seasons two through four, Joseph appeared in the OVA with seasons 1 to 3.
Of course, Jotaro will beat Joseph as season 5 will include the Stone Ocean where he makes a pretty standout appearance. But Joseph still has a few years left before losing his first position. In the future, fans can hardly see the animated Joseph again.
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JoJo is unique against all three main threats
There are three exact threats that define JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure – Vampires, Pillars, and Perpetual Users. He fights the vampire Straizo at the beginning of the Trend of Fight; The Four Pillars of Men throughout the remainder of Part II; and many Users standing in Part III.
While Jotaro fights the Vampire and the User stands up, he never gets a chance to meet any of the Turrets. In fact, Joseph is the only main character who actually fought Pillar Man. The only other characters to fight the Pillar Men are Caesar and Lisa Lisa, both of which are just supporting characters.
Joseph is the only character who can use Hamon & A Stand
Joseph is a particularly interesting character as he was introduced as the main character before Stands was created in concept form. As a result, he becomes the only character in the franchise that can use both Hamon and Stand.
Of course, the Stardust Crusader prioritized the Stands, which meant his Hamon went up a lot in Season III, but there’s one interesting detail about Joseph keeping the series from its roots. Season IV was Joseph’ appearance, which also meant that I was the last time Hamon was directly referenced in the pre-Steel Ball Run series.
Hamon is always young even in old age
Joseph, being a bummer, actually kept up with his Hamon training after Battle Tendency. Instead, he settles into life with Suzi Q and becomes a real estate agent. That said, Hamon flowed through him quite forcefully, so while he was still as young as Lisa Lisa, he gracefully aged.
By Part III, Joseph turns 70 while looking like an extremely healthy man in his fifties. Unfortunately, the next ten years did not end well for him. Revived from his fight with DIO, he slows down and his mind will eventually chase him.
The truth behind Joseph’s “amnesia”
Diamond is Unbreakable is a very interesting Part as it treats Joseph like a character. It seems extremely critical of him. He went from a glamorous, glamorous hero to an adulterer who barely kept his wits. He’s still kind and heroic, but something has fundamentally changed.
The series considers it to be amnesia but with the reason Joseph’s mind completely returned after adopting Shizuka. He managed to patch things up with his son well enough and he left Morioh completely
Jonathan’s Direct Foil
Perhaps what makes Joseph Joestar more interesting than anything else is the fact that he is specially written as a literary leaf by Jonathan Joestar. In many ways, so is Dio Brando in Phantom Blood, but Joseph is the antagonist of Jonathan, who is still heroic. He’s a generous man, he’s selfless, and he’s a gentleman.
His ideals are the complete opposite of Jonathan, but he has the Joestar spirit. No matter what, Joseph will do the right thing. He is determined to fight and fight well. He’s not as educated as Jonathan, but he’s arguably smarter. He is not physically strong like Jonathan, but he has better skills and is therefore arguably stronger. He’s all that Jonathan is.
Joseph & Jonathan Share a Stance
This makes it all more interesting technically sharing a Stand. Early in Part III, DIO used a stand that looked very similar to Joseph’s Hermit Purple. Araki revealed that he originally intended the World to become the symbol of all Brackets. After this is removed, the DIO’s Hermit Purple Stand is revealed as Jonathan’s Body Stand.
This marks the only case in the franchise where two different characters have the same Brackets. Likely traced to their training with Hamon, that makes sense. Hermit Purple is clearly inspired by Hamon, which both Jonathan and Joseph are masters of. Interestingly, the unorthodox document you come to Jonathan’s Stand is not Hermit Purple, but rather The Passion, which connects him to Jesus (and as a result Steel Ball Run).