Diego Brando (THE WORLD)

"Johnny Joestar. In this world, for me, you are the greatest challenge!!"

- Diego Brando

A second Diego "Dio" Brando features in Part VII: Steel Ball Run.

This Diego is introduced after the death of the original to the "root world" of the Corpse by Funny Valentine at the conclusion of Break My Heart, Break Your Heart.

A racer from a similar Steel Ball Run race, he confronts Johnny Joestar in High Voltage (exhibiting characteristics even more similar to those of the original Dio Brando).

Appearance
The second Diego is identical in appearance to the first.

Personality
Of few or no scruples, the second Diego is almost crueller than the first, prepared as he is to kill Johnny in inventively violent ways such as by throwing knives, like Dio, or using matches to burn him alive. He is capable of sacrificing innocent people for his sake.

Abilities
The second Diego's Stand, The World, is almost identical to Dio's: A powerful, humanoid Stand capable of stopping time for ~5 seconds.

Differing only slightly in appearance, this Stand replaces a heart-shaped motif with the letter "D".

History
During the 8th round, the original Diego turned against Funny Valentine; but he was quickly defeated by his Stand, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.

Later, after the final battle between Johnny and Valentine, the President tried to make a deal with Johnny, making the promise he can bring back Gyro Zeppeli (switching a Gyro from another universe with the deceased Gyro). However, Valentine was planning a last trick and uses the time talking with Johnny to search for an ally in another universe. With this objective in mind, Funny Valentine negotiated with this alternative version of Diego to take the Corpse Parts and to kill Johnny.

High Voltage
After Johnny finally beat Valentine, he was surprised to see the Corpse Parts were gone again. He pursued the thief only to discover he was none other than Diego Brando.

Johnny was at first surprised by the new Stand, The World, but still managed to discover the nature of its power after a few attacks. This time, Diego had the advantage of knowing Tusk's powers and Johnny super spin technique predicting his attacks, and using his fans as human shields when Johnny attacked.

In his final attack, Diego used his five seconds to make a double attack: He fired a gun while The World attacked Johnny's back. Johnny was badly hurt again falling from his horse and could not use his new attack.

However, he had accumulated enough spin to make their final attack, using Tusk Act 4 starts climbing Diego's leg. At that time, Diego remembers what Valentine told him about the Super Spin technique and how to overcome it; cutting his leg and throwing it to Johnny, Diego manages to beat Johnny with his own technique and mount his horse, leaving him to die.

World of the Stars and Stripes
Moments later, Diego wins the race and fulfills the last will of Funny Valentine by keeping the body in the secret chamber of Holy Trinity.

When all hope seemed lost, Lucy Steel appears, ready to stop Diego. She exposes the head of the first Diego, killing him when the heads from both dimensions merge and obliterate one another.

All Star Battle (PS3)
Though the actual Diego is not physically present in All-Star Battle, some of his alternate's lines are present and fully voiced in the final part of Steel Ball Run's STORY MODE. Interestingly enough, he is voiced by Takehito Koyasu, Dio's voice actor.

Eyes of Heaven (PS3/PS4)
Diego makes his first full appearance as a playable character in Eyes of Heaven along with Silver Bullet, making him the third playable character to ride on horseback alongside Johnny and Gyro. In the demo, he acts as an NPC boss.

Trivia

 * He is the second final villain to die at hands of a secondary character. The first was Enrico Pucci, killed by Emporio Alnino in Stone Ocean.
 * He is also the first antagonist to fight a JoJo at the end of a series without being a main antagonist himself.

Similarities to Dio Brando
Through actions more closely related to those occuring in Part III, the second Diego also bears similarities to Dio Brando.
 * Diego's Stand, The World, is almost identical to Dio's.
 * Diego utilizes similar techniques to Dio; especially throwing knives at his target within stopped time.
 * Diego and Dio lose their left lower legs shortly before they die when their heads are destroyed.
 * The climax of Diego's battle with Johnny takes place on a bridge, like Dio with Jotaro.