Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-37836192-20181216174823

'''This is a theory and NOT a Stand vs Stand discussion. A lot of people ask which stands can defeat GER. However time and time again we are shown very powerful stands that are only beaten due to quick thinking and good strategy. Having an extremely powerful stand doesn’t mean you’re invincible, it means that there are ways to beat you that people haven’t discovered yet. If the only way we can think of beating GER is to brute force it with a stand that is far more broken, then the immortal Araki will be laughing at our graves as we never find a way to beat GER.'''

'''This is the result of me trying to find a way of beating GER without resorting to abilities or stands that are just stronger than GER or directly counter it. I will also avoid bullshit answers like “Just make another Requiem Stand.”'''

'''I do discover weaknesses for GER, you may skip to the end to see it but to see my thought process you should read the entire thing. I have only read the manga up to the end of Part 7, so I will not be including any fanmade, game or other additional material from the other canon or non-canon works. This entire theory is based on what we learn in Parts 4 and 5.'''

'''First off, we’re gonna assume that GER does have at least ONE weakness. This conclusion can be made due to two facts.'''
 * 1) It is consistent with most fights in Jojo’s, since a lot of fights are against enemies that are seemingly invincible but are overcome due clever tactics or discovery of a flaw or weakness. Araki presents battle as a puzzle, and the audience tries to solve it with the characters.
 * 2) All other stands/stand abilities obtained by being pierced by an Arrow twice have a lethal weakness that can be used to instantly overcome the ability/stand.

'''Let’s discuss the second fact. We’re going to be making a lot of assumptions here so get used to that.'''

'''The two other stand/character we know of that have been pierced by an Arrow a second time, are Kira Yoshikage and Silver Chariot. Resulting in Killer Queen’s Third Bomb, Bites the Dust and Silver Chariot Requiem. '''

'''Both are extremely powerful stands/abilities in their own right but they both have one critical weakness. For Bites the Dust, it’s the fact that it is completely useless against a person who already knows of Kira’s true identity. As for SCR, it's the fact that it can be completely destroyed if a stand user destroyed his own soul.'''

'''These weaknesses aren’t coincidental either, Araki didn’t just randomly cook up a weakness for these two stands because the plot demanded it. There are specific conditions for getting struck by the arrow twice. '''

'''The ability you gain from getting struck by an arrow the second, is made to fulfill whatever your greatest desire was at the time. However, the weaknesses of this new ability/stand are designed so that they are cannot be exploited by the intended target of the stand/ability.'''

'''The purpose of Bites the Dust is to protect Kira’s identity. Likewise the ability is almost impossible to break out of unless Kira’s identity is revealed by someone other than who BtD was planted on. And the ability is completely useless and actively detrimental for its user against a person who already knows Kira’s identity.'''

'''Similarly, Silver Chariot Requiem has a weakness that can’t be exploited by the intended target of the stand. The sole purpose of the stand is to defend the arrow and keep it from Diavolo, that is why it can only be destroyed by a stand user committing suicide by extinguishing their own soul. Something Diavolo, who values his life above all else would never do.'''

Knowing this, we can guess Gold Experience Requiem’s weakness by figuring out what Giorno desired at that time he pierced Gold Experience with the Requiem Arrow and working backwards from there.

For this I’m gonna assume that Giorno only desired two things at the time. '''Meaning, that any weakness GER has, at the very least can’t be exploited by anyone who wants to take over his place in Passione. For the longest time, I could not figure out a weakness for this. The fact that he desired to be the boss of Passione forever means that anything that any attempt to cut it short would be completely nullified by GER. By this logic the only way to beat GER is to never fight it in the first place.'''
 * 1) To kill Diavolo and overcome his near invincible stand King Crimson.
 * 2) To take over the Passione Gang and rule the mafia for his entire life.

Then it clicked for me.

'''Upon rereading Jojo Part 5. I found a peculiar quote by Giorno to Diavolo right when he obtains GER. On Chapter 586, Gold Experience Requiem Part 1, Page 7, Giorno says:'''

'''“Righteous actions born from reality will never be annihilated. Buccellati is dead and so are Abbacchio and Narancia… But their actions and their wills have not been annihilated. Now are your actions born of reality? Or are they born of superficial evil? We’re about to find out.”'''

'''It all fucking clicked to me at that moment. GER cannot nullify a justified action. He cannot stop a firefighter from saving someone from a burning building. He cannot stop someone from jumping in front of a train to push someone of the tracks.'''

“Righteous actions born from reality…” means a morally justified action that is proven in reality.

'''He cannot nullify a righteous action that is incentivised and proven by reality. GER cannot stop a person from bringing a murderer from justice. '''

'''GER cannot stop an action that works against evil. '''

Which means that the only way to completely overcome GER’s Return to Zero ability, is for Giorno to turn evil, and for the person attacking Giorno to have a motive based on righteousness or justice.

'''If Giorno murders someone for no reason, he cannot stop a person from attempting revenge using his Return to Zero ability. '''

'''It’s a fucking perfect weakness for GER. Giorno doesn’t desire to take over Passione for selfish reasons. He’s doing it so that he could stop kids from getting drugs. His motives for becoming a mafia boss are righteous. And so long as Giorno stays on the path of righteousness, then GER is truly invincible. However if he ever strays from the ideal of himself ruling Passione, then he would lose GER’s Return to Zero ability, making him just as killable as the next person. '''

Giorno doesn’t want to be invincible for the heck of it, he wants to defeat evil and not stray from righteousness and hopefully do it for as long as possible.

'''GER acts as Giorno’s own check, it fulfills his desire while making sure that he will always stay on the righteous path. '''

And GER’s only weakness is Giorno himself.

'''Well thats my theory, I hope I at least get a few people thinking of ways to beat GER that doesn’t involve overpowering him. Honestly the only reason this theory works is because of how the Arrows apparently work when you are struck a second time/already have a stand when struck. If you have a better theory on GER’s weakness, then post it. I would love to see what you guys think of my theory. '''  