Stand

A Stand (スタンド) is a supernatural power unique to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Generally, Stands guard and empower their users in a variety of ways, and when revealed may be represented by figures hovering near to them.

When first presented, the kanji used is 幽波紋 (Yūhamon) with スタンド written over it, the kanji meaning "ghostly ripple"; marking a relationship to the key power of the Ripple featured in the first two arcs in JoJo.

General Stand Rules

 * A Stand protects its user, like a guardian. The name comes from "standing by" the user, sometimes using their powers without direct orders in order to protect the user, and by extension, themselves.
 * A person can only have one Stand, though that Stand can go through metamorphosis to evolve (Echoes, for example).
 * As a Stand is part of the user, damage is reflected between the two. In most circumstances, if the Stand's leg is sliced off, the user will lose their leg as well. Certain aspects of some Stands, such as the armor of Silver Chariot, are immune to this effect.
 * Stands can only be seen by Stand users. There are exceptions, but only with Stands that are bound to physical objects (for example, Strength and Yellow Temperance).
 * The further the Stand is from its user, the weaker the Stand becomes, with most only being capable of acting within three meters. Some exceptions are Hierophant Green and Highway Star.
 * Stands are usually bound to the user's body, but exceptions are abound, such as Wheel of Fortune being bound to a car, and The Fool being bound to sand.
 * As Stands are just images created by energy, the users are able to shrink them, mostly to enter the body of the opponent and attack its inside. Staying small, however, is very hard and takes a lot of energy.
 * Most Stands have no personal goals, serving their master without question. Stands who don't have users will generally go wild, such as Notorious B.I.G. and Anubis. Some Stands show personality, speaking to others besides their master, but most still serve their master without question. An exception to this rule can be Silver Chariot Requiem.
 * The first Stands in the JoJo Universe are named after the Major Arcana of the Tarot and Egyptian Gods. From near the end of Part III onwards, stands were named after musical bands, albums, and songs. In Part VI, many stand users are named after fashion labels.
 * In Part VII: Steel Ball Run, Stand mechanisms have changed; they no longer appear in battle (only appearing once when involved, such as Tusk) and the user does the attacking instead. Stands also look less human and more of them are conscious and can actually talk to their owners (e.g.Poco Loco's unnamed stand).

Stand Types

 * See also: Special Stand

Each Stand is unique, but many share enough characteristics that they may be grouped under specific Stand Types. Very uncommon Stands are called Special Stands.

Stand Statistics
A Stand's abilities are categorized by 6 statistics: Destructive power, speed, range, durability/staying, precision and developmental potential/learning.

Destructive Power:

Measures the Stand's strength and ability to cause destruction in a given period of time. Not only limited to brute force, but also to its abilities combined.

Speed:

Measures the Stand's agility and performance speed.

Range:

Measures the Stand's range of manifestation, range of ability influence, and spatial mobility.

Durability/Staying:

Measures the Stand's endurance and level of susceptibility to damage and attacks. May also gauge the effectiveness of the ability's binding toward physical objects.

Precision:

Measures the Stand's accuracy and its ability's range of influence to specified targets.

Development Potential/Learning:

Measures the Stand's possible functions and utilization of its abilities and powers.

Each statistic is ranked from A to E; though rankings of Infinite and None are also possible. Rankings are defined as follows:

A: Excellent

B: Good

C: Average (the same level as a normal person)

D: Weak

E: Very Weak

For range, rankings are defined as follows:

A: 100m.

B: 50m.

C: 20m.

D: 10m.

E: 2m.

To elaborate on the Developmental Potential attribute, it decreases in rank as the user masters his or her Stand. For example, Star Platinum is Rank A in Developmental Potential during Part III, but is Rank E during Part VI, as Jotaro has had many years to hone Star Platinum's power, leaving little room for any more growth.

List of Stands

 * See List of Stands.

History
The concept of "Stand" (a contraction of the phrase "one who stands by me") was introduced in Part III of the manga series. According to Joseph Joestar, it is the manifestation of an individual's innate power over the "ripple" (Hamon) and represents, to an extent, the individual's psyche. In fact, Joseph once referred to it in the manga as the "ghost ripple" (quite apt, as most of them take on humanoid forms and hover around the wielders like wraiths). Stands are usually sustained by breathing, and hover behind and above the user while usually being invisible to non-stand users. Most Stand Users can access the "senses" of their Stands, seeing and hearing whatever their Stands can.

To people without the power of the Stand, who normally cannot see them, the activities of the Stands are comparable to ghostly and poltergeist activity, and ESP. This behavior is evidently seen when Jotaro imprisons himself, takes a gun from the guard, aims it at his head, and pulls the trigger of the gun. His Stand's hand caught the bullet before it reached his head. For the normal people around him, it would appear that the bullet was suspended in midair, and as a result, the other prisoners in his cell and even the guards feared Jotaro.

In general, only those with unusually strong spiritual power and determination (but not limited to human beings) can develop Stands, as they are typically a reflection of the wielder's spirit. Stands can be developed hereditarily or artificially (through the Bow and Arrow). Those who gain Stands without such a needed trait to fully stabilize and harness them, are however, subject from negative and harmful influences due to the Stand turning onto their user, to, as Holly Joestar experienced, possible disease like symptoms, and to what Abdul witnessed, the worst case when Stands will actively and knowledgeably desire the harm of their user to the point of attacking them.

An interesting trend regarding Stands is that in their earlier appearances in Parts III and IV had a more humanoid appearance and mostly elemental powers, but later in Parts V and VI, Stands take on a more mechanical look and have more physical and intricate abilities (such as controlling gravity).

Although stands manifests themselves from the wielder's psyche, some abilities cannot be controlled and may even restrict the wielder (e.g, Superfly). Though most stands act at the wielder's will, some stands are "automatic" and the wielders cannot keep track of their actions (e.g, Black Sabbath).

It is interesting to note that the stands began to take on names of distinguished bands and album titles starting from late in Part III, though continue to retain an English name format very similar to the tarot stands from Part III. Most of them are progressive rock bands, as Araki himself is a fan of this music genre. Most Stands in Part III are named after tarot cards, and later, nine are named after Egyptian gods.

Despite their power, Stands hold one drawback: any damage the Stand receives is transmitted to its user (i.e. if a Stand's leg were to be ripped off, the Stand's user will have his or her leg severed as well). This has served as a way for defeating most of the encountered opponents throughout the series, though some Stands are immune to this factor, such as Silver Chariot with its armor on.

Trivia

 * The use of the word "Stand" to term the manifestations of supernatural powers in the series may have been inspired by the 1961 Ben E. King song 'Stand by Me', or possibly the 1988 R.E.M. song 'Stand'.
 * Their bases are very similar to the concepts of thoughtforms, being a manifestation of mental and spiritual energy of an individual into a semi-sentient and existent being.
 * A running theme is that the main villains from Part III forward have a Stand ability related to time or space manipulation: Dio Brando (Part III) and Dio Brando from another universe (Part VII) can stop time, Yoshikage Kira (Part IV) can loop time, Diavolo (Part V) can erase time, Enrico Pucci (Part VI) can cause time to accelerate, and Funny Valentine (Part VII) can access alternate timelines &amp; manipulate space. This is because Araki believe that a story can't be good without powerful villains, and he already stated that he thinks that if one can fully control time or space, that one would be unbeatable.
 * When creating stands, Hirohiko Araki wanted to represent powers in a visual form instead of just drawing objects affected by said powers (like walls being blown off or spoons bending).
 * Araki remembers many people being upset when Stands suddenly replaced Ripple within the story and was initially worried that no one would be able to understand them. He thinks the stats sheets helped fans accept the idea better.
 * The original idea of Stands being a ghostly form of the Ripple is subtly referenced in All Star Battle, where attacks from Jotaro's Star Platinum, when performed on Vampire characters, will generate less silver health than usual, an attribute also exhibited by Ripple style characters.
 * The Stands predate and codify the concepts of the TV Trope "Fighting Spirit". The Shin Megami Tensei franchise in terms of the Persona series shares this coincidental concept with JoJo's Stands with their titular Personas, to the point where recent fighting games between them (JoJo's two fighters as well as the recent Persona 4: Arena and its sequel) have similarities in their battle systems.
 * What's more, both All Star Battle and Persona 4: Arena make use of current mechanics in fighting games as of Under Night In-Birth, such as auto-combos into a Super via light attack, and as per Arc System Works tradition, P4U as developed by said company makes use of the "Anywhere Cancel" concept in the form of the 1 More Cancel like with All Star Battle's Puttsun Cancel.
 * The Persona, in terms of how they are granted to the user and catagorized, are similar to most of the Part III Stands, in that they are all named after tarot cards; in Persona's case, the Persona given to many of the playable characters are represented by their arcana via tarot, and select amount of Persona are all named after famous gods and mythological figures.