Jobin Higashikata

"The strong survive... and the weak disappear! That's all there is to it. No matter who you are, no one in this world can avoid that law."

- Jobin Higashikata, JJL Chapter 73

Jobin Higashikata (東方 常敏) is an antagonist featured in JoJolion.

Jobin is the eccentric eldest son of the Higashikata Family. He is married with Mitsuba Higashikata and has a son, Tsurugi Higashikata. Beyond his job at the Higashikata Fruit Company, Jobin is one of the members of the Rock Humans' Rokakaka smuggling operation. Jobin is a Stand User and wields the mysterious Speed King.

Appearance
Jobin is a man of average to above-average height and medium build. Four grooves cross his face vertically, over the corner and the center of his eyes. As a child, Jobin didn't have these grooves at all but upon reaching sixteen, two of the grooves had mysteriously formed. The grooves are reduced to one on each side in subsequent appearances. He has an eyebrow that divides centrally, where it curls upwards.

Wearing an undercut, the hair on his sides is of medium tone and textured by short, bulbous spikes; whilst the light hair on his crown is folded onto the right of his forehead, where it is kept with a barette.

He wears an overall light colored outfit of pants and a hooded top both bearing bulbous spikes. The hooded section is dark in color; and the second of two buttons on it bears the Higashikata Family crest. Jobin also wears a small, weaved necklace.

After losing his bet against Josuke, Jobin proceeds to shave off his left eyebrow, making him look "weird", as he put it.

Personality
"I need to keep climbing higher... or I will never be happy."

- Jobin, JJL Chapter 61

When he was a child, Jobin Higashikata was very meek and withdrawn. Melancholic due to his illness, Jobin quietly bore with the bullying one of his seniors in his scouting movement put him through, not daring to stand up for himself. However, it is shown Jobin had the courage to refuse the bully's order to burn down someone else's home.

After the awakening of Speed King, Kaato used the opportunity to change Jobin's mindset forever, telling him that he didn't do anything wrong and that he was destined to climb his way up while others would stay at the bottom. Goaded by his mother's words, Jobin committed his first murder. Since then, Jobin has been outgoing and jovial; taking Kaato's words at heart. This event helped shape his philosophy; that humans are born at a level of "zero", no matter the circumstances. Jobin believes that because of this, humans must constantly look for a way to move up in the world, and to him, that is the only way they, and he himself, can achieve happiness. Because of his ambition, Jobin looks down on the rest of the population. Jobin is shown to possess some arrogance and sense of entitlement, as he takes his family's social standing as a right to have special treatment, complaining that several businesses didn't favor him or his family.

Jobin maintains a quiet sense of humor and is fond of quoting Mitsuo Aida. He is also prone to escalating or changing the circumstances of situations solely for the reason of making them more 'interesting', as when he scolds Joshu cheering for him and demands he 'switch teams' to Josuke. In the context of Norisuke's personality test, he seems fond of robotic figurines. He is also shown to be very clever when he used his Stand to melt the wax off on his beetle, in addition to detecting Josuke's plan.

In contrast, Jobin sometimes displays the personality of a manchild, with even his own son Tsurugi noticing. In his room, he keeps a large shelving unit full of display cases for exotic beetles. This childish streak appears to extend beyond this as Jobin often makes reference to 'summer vacation' and other such indulgences correlating to a typical childhood.

Although Jobin hasn't been seen to have many interactions with his siblings it can be observed that while Joshu looks up to his older brother, Jobin holds him in a disinterested light. This keeps true to the trend of ordinary sibling interaction. Jobin however, holds his mother in high regard and exhibits a submissive and obedient behavior around her, showing fear of upsetting her. He also later shows a darker and manipulative side to his personality, using his father's trust to his advantage so he can organize trades for the Rokakaka Smuggling Organization.

Jobin desires the power of the Rokakaka, wishing to obtain it to rid his family of the Higashikata curse. This desire leads to him valuing the Rokakaka and elimination of any in his way above everything else, even being unconcerned of Morioh itself were to be destroyed in the process. Despite this cold-hearted behavior and disregard for innocent life, Jobin displays tactical restraint; deciding against murdering Yasuho Hirose because it would raise his family's suspicions. He unconditionally loves his son, risking his life to save Tsurugi and betraying Poor Tom in the process for attacking him.

Abilities
Like the other members of his family, Jobin possesses a Stand referred to as Speed King. Most of its power remains unobserved, but has been noted to be capable of producing small points of intense heat within a 10 cm radius, which he uses strategically to cheat during a beetle fight, and more commonly, to induce a heat stroke.

This power requires that he come into contact with whatever he wishes to apply heat to, as is the case with Josuke; Jobin offers him tissues to wipe his nose, only for the contact with the tissue being the catalyst required for Jobin to increase the temperature inside of Josuke's head, causing the blood vessels to burst and giving him a nosebleed.

Background
It is known from his son Tsurugi's explanation of the Higashikata family's superstitious beliefs of warding away "demons of sickness" that Jobin, being the firstborn son of his family, was raised as a girl until he turned twelve.

During his youth, Jobin suffered from the Rock Disease, causing his skin to crack and suffer short-term memory loss, so that he would forget whatever happened the last day Two of his seniors at a local scouting movement he was part of were bullying him. One day, the bullies forced him to steal a set of Kaato's underwear and take a photo of her under the shower. Coincidentally, a fellow scout spotted Jobin being bullied and denounced the bullies to their school and the police.

One of the bullies dragged Jobin to the scout's house one night and tried to force him to set fire on the denouncer's house, but Jobin refused to commit arson. Furious, the bully threatened the burn Jobin's face; at this moment, Jobin awakened his Stand Speed King and heated the blood inside the bully's head, stunning him gravely. Going to his mother for help, Jobin went to the hole under the lone pine tree with the disabled bully and Kaato. There, Kaato told him that he was destined to climb further up despite his unfair birth, and told him to go bury the bully inside the hole. Jobin thus performed an equivalent exchange.

Since then, Jobin had taken Kaato's words at heart and became more assertive.

JoJolion
He is mentioned by Joshu Higashikata during the attempt at a family photo, apparently having left shortly before. The mention of his absence is enough for his father to call off the welcoming photo for Josuke.

Josuke! Go to the Higashikata Fruit Parlor
Josuke and Norisuke first encounter Jobin in the Higashikata Fruit Parlor after the events surrounding Yotsuyu. Josuke spills some ice cream on his foot, and as Jobin cleans it up, he explains that he had returned from researching fruit in Vietnam and the Philippines for the Higashikata family business.

Every Day Is a Summer Vacation
It is revealed that he has a taste for expensive ornaments, including a golden Lamborghini and a Dorcus titanus palawanicus (giant stag beetle); and that he has a close relationship with his father. He gives Josuke the stag beetle as a gift, though Josuke reluctantly accepts it.

After Norisuke and Jobin leave, Josuke discovers traces from Norisuke's King Nothing suggesting that Jobin may know something regarding the spiky fruit capable of healing the family's disease and may possibly be involved with Yotsuyu. Josuke challenges Jobin to a beetle fight using the beetle he had previously received with the intent of gathering more information. The beetle fight seems one-sided at first, but concludes with Jobin receiving the loser's punishment of cutting off one of his eyebrows. Sparking his competitive side, Jobin challenges Josuke to another beetle fight with his lamborghini as the ante, but with the condition that he be allowed to lick Josuke's eye should he win the next round.

Choosing a smaller Beetle, Jobin's chances of victory are almost assured when he uses his Stand to melt wax he had previously packed into a small hole in its head; causing the pain of the wax burning it's brain to send it into a crazed frenzy and increase it's bloodlust, although this ploy fails when Josuke reponds by using his Stand in kind.

Jobin starts to become suspicious when he loses the second match and begins to use the heat of his Stand to question Josuke, basically interrogating his foster brother until the sprinklers are set off which allows the latter to escape.

Doobie Wah
While Jobin is cleaning up his room, he is contacted by Aisho Dainenjiyama who asks if he knows why he's being tailed. Jobin connects the event to Josuke but choose to reveal nothing. However he allows Aisho to kill the pursuers, not knowing that his own son is being targeted.

In the aftermath of Tamaki Damo's attack on the Higashikata House, Jobin is shown in his car nearby, where he witnessed Damo's death at the hands of Josuke. He is then called by his mother, Kaato Higashikata, who he promises to pick up from prison, but is asked to keep her release a secret from the family as she wants it to be a surprise.

Following Kaato's arrival and shortly after her sudden departure to the hotel, Jobin enters the family room. He nonchalantly reveals that he was the one to let her in, and goes to examine his breakfast. This causes Norisuke to become suspicious of Jobin.

Dolomite's Blue Lagoon
Working directly with Kaato, Jobin begins to investigate Norisuke's garden at night as he searches for a Rokakaka Branch. He is accidentally caught by one of his father's security surveillance cameras, which Josuke quickly discovers. The event confirms Norisuke and Josuke's suspicions of his treachery while Jobin remains unaware of his detection. Kaato calls Jobin, informing him of his father's suspicious behavior and the fact that Norisuke has given Josuke a private cell phone to contact him with.

Worried by this, Jobin drives to a nearby shrine where he summons a disfigured Rock Human named Dolomite using fried chicken. He informs Dolomite of the deaths of the previous Rock Humans that were defeated by Josuke and company, all before asking Dolomite for a favor. Jobin shows Dolomite the evidence that through the power of the Rokakaka, Josefumi Kujo and Yoshikage Kira fused to become the current Josuke. Jobin then proposes that Dolomite help him find a Rokakaka.

Jobin compliments the Dolomite on his choice to cooperate, stating that everyone needs to overcome obstacles to be happy. Showing the photo of Josuke again to Dolomite, he announces his intention to stop him from finding the unknown ally who will let him find the Rokakaka. As Jobin carefully puts Dolomite's tooth into an envelope, Dolomite asks if it's fine if anything dire happens to Josuke or even Morioh as a whole because of his Blue Hawaii. Jobin simply responds that he doesn't care and leaves Dolomite to eliminate Josuke. As Yasuho Hirose investigates the identity of who Blue Hawaii's user could be, Jobin tracks her down. While Yasuho is distracted using Paisley Park, Jobin uses Speed King to touch her temple. The blood within her veins begins to boil, rendering her unconscious. Jobin ponders killing her to deal a crippling blow to Josuke, however he decides against it as the murder would confirm Norisuke's suspicions. Instead, Jobin leaves Yasuho on the sidewalk and dumps the only evidence of Dolomite's true identity into a sewer drain. However he does not return to Dolomite.

Poor Tom and Ozon Baby
Jobin receives a phone call from a certain "Poor Tom", who asks him to meet inside a parking lot. At the meeting, Jobin sees that this Poor Tom is another Rock Human, and proposes him to cooperate in order to stop Josuke from getting the fruit. The baby-like Poor Tom gives him a toy house which he presents as his own Stand Ozon Baby and instructs him to bury it inside his orchard.

Jobin complies and sneakily buries Ozon Baby in the garden of his house, and soon after Tsurugi confronts him about his goals. Their conversations are interrupted when the air pressure decreases dramatically. When he tries to escape out of the shed they were in, Tsurugi begins to suffer depressurization sickness and is gravely injured. Jobin manages to save him, and realizes that he has been tricked by Poor Tom. Ozon Baby will indiscrimately attack anyone in its range through its air pressure power. Determined, Jobin decides to use Josuke and the plant appraiser, whom he guesses are present in the garden.

Eyes of Heaven (PS3/PS4)
Jobin makes a cameo appearance in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven. He appears inside the Higashikata House on the Part 8 stage, sitting alongside Daiya and Hato on the couch.

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Trivia

 * Jobin's dependent relationship with his mother, Kaato Higashikata and subsequent teaming up to kill Josuke is similar to Diamond Is Unbreakable main antagonist Yoshikage Kira and his father, Yoshihiro Kira.