JoJonium/Special Interviews

In each Kanzenban (volume) of JoJonium, there is a section in the back of the book containing an interview with Hirohiko Araki discussing the character featured on the cover. These interviews act as small biographies outlining the creation process of said character and Araki's thoughts at the time.

The pages also include a picture of the character, their profile, and a one question Q&A regarding the character design choices of the cover illustrations.

Volume 1 (Jonathan Joestar)
"The title of the series is JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, but first and foremost, I actually wanted to draw Dio. Good and evil, white and black—Jonathan and Dio function as symbols and are foils of one another. The series had the potential to go on, so in my mind, I wanted to create a "first Joestar" that could function as a symbol of purity and dignity rather than a unique, fresh character—that's why it was hard to come up with him.

There are limitations on how I could write the character because he was a "symbol of justice," so he may be a little on the boring side. I solidified his character as I went. Jonathan is passive, reacting to Dio's various attacks, and this leads to him discovering his way of life. Perhaps this is linked to me as an author, growing along with my character as I drew him. Just as Jonathan was unsure as to how to live his life, I was unsure where to take the character. Maybe I grew as an author a little with Jonathan as he trudged on through his hardships.

In Part 1, during the seven years after Danny's death, Jonathan gets very muscular. This change was made with the upcoming battle between him and Dio in mind. I thought his physique needed to be able to withstand the constant onslaught from this point on. In addition, when this part was originally being serialized, it was the era of "muscles" on the silver screen—guys like Schwarzenegger and Stallone. Schwarzenegger, for example, could never be stopped by an amount of gunfire right? I wanted Jonathan to have a similar look to him—a look of unstoppableness. Weekly Shonen Jump also has a history and tradition of main characters evolving and growing.

I also wanted Jonathan to exude an aura of strength like in Karate Baka Ichidai after doing martial arts training alone in the mountains. As a child, I loved karate manga—you would see all kinds of supernatural strength, like punching electrical poles and having the birds on the wires drop down or someone trying to stab another person with a knife, only to have the knife bend. In actuality, martial arts does have a certain mystique to it, such as strengthening punches with breathing techniques. I wanted to include supernatural things like that in JoJo, and I believe that the Ripple is inspired by my love of karate manga.

Did Dio and Danny make up? Just for the cover. It's hard drawing characters from Part 1 after all this time, but it feels like meeting up with old friends."

- Hirohiko Araki

Volume 2 (William Anthonio Zeppeli)
"Mr. Zeppeli was named after the rock band "Led Zeppelin." They are top-tier musicians to me, so I felt I had to reference their name with this character, albeit it's really a shame I used it so early--kind of like playing the Joker right at the beginning of a card game. Therefore, I had to resolve myself to that when I debuted Mr. Zeppeli. It's also important how the name sounds; there are a lot of "J" names in the series like JoJo, Jonthan and Joestar that are similar, so I wanted to balance out the names with a "Z" like Zeppeli. I made sure to do the same thing with Speedwagon.

Mr. Zeppeli teaches the Ripple to Jonathan and leads him on his quest to destroy the stone mask. I like teachers who are silly and make you wonder whether or not they're missing a screw up there. Like in Jackie Chan movies, the master's always a drunkard--so how can he be so strong? Same thing in The Karate Kid. Their outside appearance may be a little off, but it's what's underneath that is deserving of respect. These characters have charm because of the gap between their exterior and interior, and because you can't judge them by their covers. Mr. Zeppeli may look weak at first glance, but he's actually strong, even though I dressed him like a magician and gave him the mustache of a snake oil salesman. His mustache was actually inspired by those worn by the painter Salvador Dali and Osomatsu-kun's Iyami.

However, the mustache requires a lot of courage to pull off in a shonen magazine. Mainly because it makes the character look older and untrustworthy, no matter the type of mustache. As for Mr. Zeppeli—while he serves as JoJo's master, it's not like he's an old man far older than JoJo. He's also the lead supporting character. I might have turned readers off with him, so it took courage. He's a type of character that I haven't really used in any of my other work, but one that I wanted to use for the reasons I mentioned above. Thinking about it now, it may have been a "gamble" or "adventure" on my part. Back then I probably figured, "Eh, it's JoJo, it'll work out." It is a Bizarre Adventure, after all.

Lastly, to my credit, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure came out BEFORE the Japanese TV drama series Bizarre Stories in This World. Let's get this straight.

Could the sphere on his cane be...? It's a steel ball from Steel Ball Run. Zeppeli is known for his silken top hat. It's a cool shape and if you curve the diamond design, it looks three-dimensional."

- Hirohiko Araki

Volume 3 (Dio Brando)
"I mentioned this back when I was talking about Jonathan, but Dio was actually the one I wanted to draw most for Part 1. How far can a man's ambition drive him when he takes it to the ultimate extreme? That's what I wanted to depict. I wanted his name to sound cool when paired with JoJo's, so I ended up going with Dio, which means "god" in Italian. I always hear theories about how I got his name from the Dio Scooter, but that's not true! I'll just put that out there, along with the Bizarre Stories thing from last volume.

In regards to how he contrasts with Jonathan, I wanted to tackle how you represent the ultimate villain as depicted against a symbol of justice. How exactly would he fall into that role of "villain"? People always love to compare who's stronger or who's cooler. You've got Godzilla versus Mechagodzilla, Schwarzenegger vs. Stallone... I wanted there to be that sort of contrast or struggle between Dio and Jonathan.

Additionally, FBI psychological profiling was a hot topic around the time that I wrote this. Why do serial killers do what they do, scientifically speaking? I was inspired by that when I was working on Dio. Guys like that are true scumbags, rotten to the core. Yet, I've always sort of thought that they're actually incredibly strong for being table to commit such crimes. Why do they go so far? Do they do it just to see if they can? The "control" aspect of it interests me as well. There was a famous case in America where a man trapped several women in a room and brought them out, one at a time, into another room to kill them. All of these women were waiting, together, for their turn to get killed. I can't imagine what their mental state was like at that point... Thinking rationally, you wonder why they wouldn't try to make a break of it, or why they wouldn't try to band together and overpower the killer? There has to be some way to resist. However, if you look into the process by which people control others, you start to see what's effective. There are many ways, including instilling fear, but I always found the act of controlling others strangely fascinating.

That's why Dio wasn't simply a strong villain, but a character that controls others and had admirers that served him. As an antagonist, it makes it suspenseful for the reader, as they wonder how he can be beaten. During serialization, I actually hadn't prepared a weakness for Dio. It's the best kind of suspense when you are on edge. How will they overcome him if Ripple doesn't work? The stronger the enemy, the better. It was hard coming up with a way for him to be defeated, though.

Why is Dio naked? He wanted to show off his beautiful body. If I try, I can draw these characters to look the way they did, but they're living, breathing things. They do end up looking like completely different people when drawn in a modern style."

- Hirohiko Araki

Volume 4 (Joseph Joestar)
"Joseph Joestar was the one who took up the torch from the original JoJo, Jonathan Joestar, to become the main character of the second generation. Looking back on it, it seems that a lot of fans feel as if the two of them look rather identical. The thing is, when this was originally being serialized, it was unprecedented to have a main character die in a Weekly Shonen Jump story. "The manga has the same title, but it now has a different main character" - it was difficult to think of a way to overcome the reader's perception that it had turned into an entirely different manga altogether! That's why I decided to keep Joseph's appearance the same as Jonathan's but change his personality. Now that the series is up to Part 8, though, I wish I had differentiated the appearances of the protagonists of Parts 1 and 2 a bit more (laughs).

As mentioned when discussing Jonathan, Dio is the black to Jonathan's white--rather passive and perhaps a bit uninteresting as a main character. Joseph, on the other hand, is easier to perceive as being proactive, and I felt like that worked. As I wrote Joseph's tale, it was more as if he was in control of how the story progressed, so I think he ended up being more of an "adventurer," if you will. In comparison to the gentlemanly Jonathan, Joseph is constantly looking to win in confrontations or games and will do insane things without hesitation. In more crude terms, he has the personality of a swindler. This isn't only to create a contrast between him and Jonathan, but also because I wanted the focus to shift from the physical battles of Part 1 to more cerebral confrontations.

Back then, as an extension of my other work, Magic Boy B.T., I wanted to make Joseph a shonen manga character that bends the rules as he fights. Essentially, have him use the playbook of a swindler to win using cunning and logic. I also didn't want him to be the type of character who wins with bravery and perseverance, so it was easier to flesh out his personality with lines like "Your next line is..." where he ends up reading the actions of his opponent ahead of time. To put it simply, Joseph is more of a muscle-bound B.T. I put some Stallone into B.T. and added some cheerfulness for good measure to make him more of a jolly fellow.

Joseph is the character that connects the Joestar bloodline to Parts 3 and 4. I made Jonathan die for the storyline in Part 1, but I didn't even consider killing off Joseph. If i had known JoJo would go on until Part 8, I think I might have changed his visual design a little bit.

Why does Joseph have a hat and goggles? To help differentiate him from Jonathan. Part 2 takes place when airplanes were first becoming prevalent. That's why I gave him a pilot's hat with goggles--sort of a steampunk or biker look."

- Hirohiko Araki

Volume 5 (Lisa Lisa)
"In today's terms, you'd call Lisa Lisa a sadist character. (Laughs)

Lisa Lisa the Ripple teacher. For the second JoJo, I had a female character play the part of the Ripple master. This idea originally stemmed from me wondering what it would be like for a female to follow up the original Ripple master, Mr. Zeppeli from Part 1. There actually weren't too many female characters in JoJo's at that point, but she works well paired with Joseph and Caesar, doesn't she? There are times where I simply think, "no...a guy or an older man just wouldn't work here" and pick characters based on the balance of the group. The first obstacle with Lisa Lisa's character was her name. Back then, if you picked a non-Japanese name for your character, it was a challenge to get the audience to remember it. That's why I picked Lisa Lisa--I had hoped that like with "JoJo", a repetitious name would help. It also phonetically resembles Japanese to some extent.

When this part was originally serialized, the girls that showed up in Shonen manga were all cute types--essentially the stereotype of "a man's ideal girl." Readers weren't looking for a realistic portrayal of women, but instead, the type of girl that giggles during a conversation with heart marks appearing next to her. That's why I think a warrior-type character like Lisa Lisa felt fresh. Mr. Zeppeli in Part 1 was a very gentle character, and to contrast with that, I made her what you would call a "sadistic" character today. There was a girl in my neighborhood who would tutor me toward the end of elementary school. She was incredibly smart and it was very intimidating for me! Not that she was a sadist or anything (laughs). I think I was inspired by that moment, that exhilarating "nervousness" that I felt around my female tutor. It's normal to see strong women these days, but back then, it was unheard of in shonen manga, not to mention society in general. It was exciting to challenge people's expectations through the medium of Weekly Shonen Jump by having a woman train the main character si he can get stronger.

In addition to functioning as someone's master, people also weren't used to seeing a woman fight. When displaying the strength of a character, for example, if it's an old man, there could be a backstory where he spent his youth doing harsh training therefore he was able to learn the techniques and become a master. That would explain why he can catch a fly using chopsticks...but for a woman, there needs to be something more substantive to back it up. In a match, common sense dictates that the physically stronger would win, but I realized that if you add supernatural abilities into the mix, a woman can fight on even footing with a strong male opponent. In other words, if the battle is between those with supernatural powers, physical appearance has nothing to do with strength. The Ripple is Lisa Lisa's supernatural ability. The idea of "looks being irrelevant in super natural abilities" is what led to the introduction of Stands in part 3.

What inspired the look of the Pillar Men? Roman sculptures, the sphinx, Japanese Nio statues, etc. By basing them on the kind of sculptures you would see in temples or shrines, it gave them a mythical aura while also feeling familiar. Quite a bizarre juxtaposition, if I do say so myself."

- Hirohiko Araki

Volume 7 (Kars)
"The first thing I wanted to consider when writing the characters of Kars and the Pillar Men was how they would surpass Dio. We're talking about an Ultimate Being, so you first have to consider the fact that those who put on the stone mask become vampires, thus surpassing humanity. Therefore, I had to take things up a notch to the level of gods. That's why I based the four of their appearances (including Santana) on Roman statues, Egyptian sphinxes and Japanese nio statues--to give them a strange physical beauty as godlike figures in organic form. The reason Kars' ability, the Brilliant Bone Blade, was a Light Mode was because I thought a shining blade was appropriate for a godlike technique. At the same time, I wanted to visually express to the readers that defeating Kars would be impossible. I think the Light Mode: Brilliant Bone Blade reminded a lot of readers of Reskiniharden Saber Phenomenon from my previous work, Baoh: The Visitor. While we're not speaking of scientific development per se, there were aspects of Kars' quest to become the epitome of biological evolution that overlapped somewhat with Baoh. Visually speaking as well, as a mangaka, I really enjoyed drawing a technique where flesh and blade merge like that. In my opinion, taking those two completely different materials--flesh and blade--is something you can only do in manga. For example, the movie Terminator 2 had an enemy that could morph his arm like memory alloy into a metal spear, but that's not what I was picturing for this. The blade I wanted to draw was something more organic, more skin-like. I think I was able to convey what I wanted to because of this medium, black-and-white manga! I can freely draw things that can't even be done with Hollywood CG. Besides Kars' technique, there are several ways I feel like I'm helped out by manga as a medium. Both then and now, I never forget how thankful I am for manga. Lastly, there are likely some of you out there that think Kars might come back to Earth at some point, but as the creator, I actually drew this with the intention of him never coming back again (Laughs). The line about him "deciding to stop thinking" was something that came to me naturally when I was thinking about what you would do if you were journeying through space and you became unable to return. The fact that he cannot fulfill his wish to go back--no matter how much he wants to while time continues ticking on--may be the harshest punishment possible for Kars as the Ultimate Being. That's why, unless I can come up with a logical reason for him to come back, like maybe him developing a compass-like ability, or crashing down on some other civilization, that final scene will be his last one.

Why does only Kars get a turban? It's to show his superior power and intelligence as their king, along with it having a jewel. If you liken the Pillar Men to Mito Komon, Kars would be Komon-sama, while Esidisi and Wamuu would be Suke-san and Kaku-san, respectively (Laughs). That's where I was coming from when drawing their poses for Part 2, Vols. 2 and 3. I made him naked from the waist up to contrast with that air of intelligence."

- Hirohiko Araki

Volume 12 (Noriaki Kakyoin)
"I thought up all five of the Joestar troupe - Kakyoin, Jotaro, Joseph, Avdol, and Polnareff - as a set. I decided on the right balance from the start so that their appearance, personality, fashion and Stands did not overlap. For me, it was very important for their silhouettes to be recognizable. Still, my editor at the time told me, “From this silhouette, no one has a round shaped head so everyone must be pretty straightforward”. I thought to make Kakyoin the thin, somewhat sensitive one of the group. Even though Kakyoin is the only Japanese in Part 3 besides Jotaro, I wasn’t specifically particular about his nationality. What was most of note was his name. I always think of both the first and last names together as a set. His last name, "Kakyoin", I took from a place in my hometown of Sendai. It’s a place that I always passed through on my way to Sendai Station so it’s a name of a place very dear to me. And so, I made 典明 (Note: Kakyoin’s first name which can be read as either Noriaki or Tenmei) the first name to go along with Kakyoin as a last name. Officially, it has become "Noriaki", but I’ve always called him "Tenmei". Actually, I left this reading of his name as a signature in Enya’s hotel guest book. I made the main character’s name 'Kujo Jotaro’ so I gave Kakyoin his name after I pondered how it will sound and the proper balance of the characters in his name but… my editor made "Noriaki" go off on a journey with the Joestar troupe. When I saw that his name was different in the comics, I was a little surprised, but I guess this is like when a kid gets his friends to call him "Noriaki" even though his parents named him 'Tenmei.' Although I wasn’t particular about the fact that Kakyoin is Japanese, I purposely made him the foil to Jotaro. The reason why I made Kakyoin Jotaro’s first actual opponent in a Stand vs. Stand battle is because I wanted to convey to the readers the concept of a long range and short range Stand. As a long range Stand, I decided to depict Kakyoin’s 'Hierophant Green’ stretching out in strands so that both Jotaro and Kakyoin’s differences can be easily comprehended when compared to 'Star Platinum.’ I had many ideas of how to depict long range attacks, but in order to not have it turn into anything goes right from the start, I was careful to emphasize that Stands equal manifests and stands next to the user. I didn’t really have a chance to draw it in the comic, but Kakyoin is a high school student that goes to the same school that Jotaro does. During this journey, you can sense that although they become friends, there is still a sense of distance. But I wonder how it would’ve been like if they didn’t have their Stand abilities as common ground...Considering their personality types, they probably would not have become friends (Laughs). I bet Kakyoin would’ve become better friends with Josuke from Part 4.

Did you consider not giving Kakyoin a gakuran to make him contrast more with the main character? Since Kakyoin is an honor student type, I gave him a prim and proper gakuran. Jotaro is a hoodlum so his gakuran is hanging open. Having them both wear the same outfit differently makes the differences in character more pronounced. I think I also distinguished them by giving Jotaro accessories."

- Hirohiko Araki

Volume 13 (Muhammad Avdol)
"I made Avdol the sub-leader of the Joestar group. He was the assistant to Joseph, the 2nd JoJo and navigator of the group. I wanted him to be someone that everyone could count on, due to his strong sense of duty and loyalty. Since his job was to prove that Joseph was telling the truth when he told Jotaro about how DIO had come back to life, I wanted him to have some kind of past with DIO in Egypt, so I gave his hair and clothes ethnic touches. At the time, lots of people, including me, were interested in Egypt, as the 'birthplace of civilization,' so I think Avdol's appearance really fit with the times. I killed him once in India, because I'm always trying to keep readers from getting bored with the same pattern. I also wanted to add some reality to the story by having someone get sacrificed. I thought it'd be great to add in an episode where they lose a team member. I didn't intend to erase him forever, though.. But I thought it'd be too easy if he came back to life immediately, so I wanted to prepare a flashy comeback that readers would be able to accept. When I draw JoJo, I never plan out the small things. In the end, I managed to bring Avdol back just before they reached Egypt, but I never planned that beforehand. It was just an idea that came to me while drawing. Now that I think back on it, since I killed him once, I probably should have made him more important in the story. Of course, these thoughts all come to me after I've already finished the story. Making the story center around Avdol would have been very adventurous at the time (Laughs); Even in the character popularity polls, I don't think he was ever in any of the top spots. Everyone just wanted to see Jotaro fight... Also, drawing Magician's Red was a bit of a struggle for me. Being able to control flames is something that people always put in movies and manga, and in the end, it's just about burning things up, so it end it becomes a pretty all-powerful ability. I think in terms of JoJo, flames and poisonous gas have become off limits for me. If I had made a story centered around Avdol, I probably would have explored his relationship with his father, his upbringing, and his family. I'm pretty sure it'd become a mature story that wouldn't really fit in Shonen Jump. (Laughs).

Did Avdol get younger? He was always meant to be in his late 20s. He may look a bit older, but that also happens a lot with soldiers in real life. People with a lot of experience get tough faces."

- Hirohiko Araki