Josuke Higashikata/History

History
Josuke apparently developed his stand off-screen in the events of Part III, when Jotaro Kujo and company traveled to Egypt to kill Dio Brando. As a result of Dio being pierced by the stand-creating Arrow, Josuke, possessing the Joestar Bloodline that runs in Jonathan's body, develops a stand, but suffers a fever not unlike that of his half-sister Holly. He is then saved by a then-high school student with a pompadour, who throws his coat under his mother's car in order to allow their car to plow safely through the snow. This then inspires Josuke's admiration for the man with the pompadour.

Meeting Jotaro
On an April afternoon in the year of 1999, Josuke is confronted by Jotaro Kujo, the protagonist of Part III: Stardust Crusaders. The man then revealed himself to be Josuke's nephew. Josuke was in fact the product of an illegitimate affair between Joseph Joestar and the Japanese Tomoko Higashikata. Josuke did not seem surprised by the news; he informed Jotaro that he had long since accepted the circumstances of his birth. However, Jotaro made the unfortunate mistake of insulting Josuke's hairstyle, causing him to attack Jotaro in a fit of rage. Jotaro took note of his Stand Crazy Diamond, which possessed speed and power enough to match that of Star Platinum. He proceeded to tell Josuke about the second reason he had come to Morioh: an evil killer named Angelo was on the loose, and he possessed a Stand, to make things worse. Jotaro warned Josuke (and Hirose Koichi, who happened to be nearby) to watch out for any signs of the man.

Josuke's First Battle
"You can say that the human species destroy as they live.. but your power is kinder than anything else in this world."

- Jotaro Kujo

On his way home, Josuke encountered a supermarket robbery and rescued the woman being held hostage. As it turned out, the robber was under the influence of Angelo and his water-based Stand Aqua Necklace. Angered at Josuke's interference, Angelo swore to find Josuke's home and kill his family. The following morning, Angelo approached the Higashikata household under the guise of a milkman. Josuke managed to capture him once, but Angelo craftily changed his Stand to mimic a bottle of brandy and tricked Josuke's grandfather Ryohei Higashikata into taking a drink. Ryohei was dead, and even the abilities of Crazy Diamond could not revive him. With a vow paralleling Peter Parker's, Josuke decided to protect Morioh in his grandfather's place. He and Jotaro set up camp within the Higashikata household, drinking and eating only bottled water and canned food. When it began to rain, Angelo carried his Stand in on the raindrops and began to boil water inside the house. Soon there was steam everywhere, and the threat of Aqua Necklace was imminent. Even Jotaro was surprised when Josuke purposefully allowed Aqua Necklace into his body, having swallowed shredded pieces of a rubber glove that he later restored to trap Angelo. Josuke's final punches fused Angelo's body together with a rock, creating the first of Morioh's town legends.

The Nijimura Brothers
Josuke and Koichi noticed a suspicious house on their way to school, seemingly wrecked and abandoned. The house turned out to be the residence of Nijimura Okuyasu and Keicho Nijimura, two Stand users looking to put an end to their deformed father. Koichi is shot through the chest by a Stand arrow belonging to Keicho. After pausing briefly to deal with Okuyasu, Josuke ran in to rescue Koichi. He managed to defeat Keicho by healing Bad Company's missiles and turning them against their user. Deep inside of the house, Josuke and Koichi find Okuyasu's father. When Josuke healed the box that Okuyasu's father was clawing at, the shredded pieces inside came together to reveal a photograph of the Nijimura family. As Okuyasu's father held it tearfully, Josuke agreed to assist Keicho; he would help them find a Stand user that could save their father, not kill him. However, the three are suddenly attacked by Red Hot Chili Pepper, and Keicho is killed taking a blow for Okuyasu. Red Hot Chili Pepper then escapes with the Stand bow and arrow.

Surface
Josuke's next opponent was a 3rd year student from his high school, Toshikazu Hazamada. Hazamada's Stand Surface took on the appearance of Josuke and set off to assassinate Kujo Jotaro. With Koichi's help, the two managed to arrive at the train station before Hazamada and the false Josuke. While Surface briefly succeeded in gaining control of Josuke's body, Hazamada is attacked by the two thugs he angered earlier, and soon knocked into oblivion by Josuke's fists.

The Kidnapping of Hirose Koichi
After Yukako Yamagishi's intense declaration of love, Koichi confided his troubles with his friends Josuke and Okuyasu. They advised that in order to cause Yukako to lose interest in him, he would have to convince her he was not worth her time. Josuke tried to help by spreading the rumor that Koichi was a petty thief and a liar. Unfortunately, this caused the exact opposite of the intended effect, and Koichi is kidnapped by Yukako and taken to a mansion on the far end of Morioh. When Koichi is nowhere to be found the following morning, Josuke assumed something was wrong. He and Okuyasu tracked Koichi's desperate phone call and arrived just in time to witness him defeating Yukako with his new and improved Stand.

Trattoria Trussardi
One afternoon, Okuyasu and Josuke discovered a queer restaurant on their way home from school. Upon Okuyasu's insistence, the two head inside. The head chef and waiter Tonio Trussardi greeted them, promising a very special Italian course to cure Okuyasu's sleep deprivation and other ailments. Josuke's suspicions grew as Okuyasu cried buckets of tears and shed enough dead skin to form a baseball, and stormed into the kitchen to confront Tonio. Tonio ran at him in a rage, but it turned out that he was only cross with Josuke for entering the kitchen without washing his hands. Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, Josuke and Okuyasu introduced themselves to Tonio as fellow Stand users.

JoJoLion (2011 alternate universe)
Josuke has been shown to have at least one alternate counterpart in the town of Morioh. The first, and most apparent, is the protagonist of Part VIII, who takes up the name written with a different kanji. The second is shown to be the current patriarch of the Higashikata family, Norisuke IV, whose birth name was shown in a family tree to have been "Josuke".