Johnny Joestar

Johnny Joestar (ジョ二ー・ジョースター) is a racer in the Steel Ball Run race and serves as one of the two main protagonists of the series, along with Gyro Zeppeli. He is the alternate universe counterpart of Jonathan Joestar, the protagonist of Part 1. He is a paraplegic, and is usually seen wearing a hat with a horse shoe decoration on the front.

At the beginning of the story Johnny starts out rather as a supporting character to Gyro. At first it wasn't clear whether Steel Ball Run was meant to be a part of the Jojo series, but when it was officially announced to be one by volume 5 (incidentally also the turning point for the entire series as it switched from Weekly Shounen Jump to be released in the seinen magazine Ultra Jump), subtitled as Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7, Johnny started to gain more and more the weight of a main protagonist alongside Gyro, developing a stand power and getting more focus on his individual actions.

Background
Johnny Joestar, also known as "Joe Kid" or "JoJo", was a racing prodigy. However, when waiting in line for a play, the girl he was with convinced him to cut to the front of the line and bribe the bouncers to throw out the youth in the front of the line, who had been waiting through the night. The youth shot Johnny, resulting in his being paralyzed from the waist down and sent to a hospital, where he was physically abused. Having lost all the friends and respect he had earned as a jockey, no one visited him during his stay in the hospital.

At the beginning of the series, Johnny Joestar encountered Gyro Zeppeli and was brought to his feet upon touching Gyro's steel ball. Believing Gyro to be capable of teaching him to walk, Johnny joined the Steel Ball Race and followed him to be trained.

Childhood
(Reference/spoilers: SBR Chapter 42, A Silent Way 3)

Johnny was born to a family of former aristocrats – his father now a wealthy owner of several farms, and an acclaimed horse trainer who had won the Triple Crown seven times. He was successful enough for the family to live comfortably in England for several years. Mr. Joestar was strict on Johnny, and always seemed to take a preference towards his 5 year older brother Nicholas. When young Johnny once took his pet mouse Danny to secretly feed it under the table during dinner, his father, upon discovering it, ordered the child to drown the animal himself as punishment. Heartbroken Johnny couldn't bring himself to do the deed, and followed Nicholas' suggestion to set Danny free into the woods instead.

Years later Nicholas grew into a promising jockey-to-be, much admired by Johnny. One day Nicholas's horse stumbled from something on the ground which cost him his life. Johnny watched a white mouse run from the commotion into the woods – a mouse he believed to be Danny. Seven years later, it was Johnny who rose to fame as a racing prodigy, however his father still did not acknowledge him and his feats, possibly since Johnny never managed to beat Diego at racing. In a violent fight between them the father uttered that "god had taken the wrong son" before finally throwing Johnny out of his household.

Personality
Johnny is still aggressive and forceful. However, after being taken off his feet by Gyro's steel ball, he also closely follows his words. Johnny is stubborn and strong-willed; he refuses to accept Gyro's claims that he stood up from his wheelchair as a reflex, and races despite his disability making even mounting a horse difficult.

When the need arises he can be driven by dark, scruple-less determination much darker than Gyro.

Trivia

 * In the popular pixal avatar site [| Gaia online], there is an obtainable item know as Roto's Hat. This item second pose allows the avatar of the side to wear a hat identical to that of Johnny's, cleverly name Joey's hat.