Josuke higashikata (JoJolion)

The tentatively-named Josuke Higashikata is the main protagonist of Part VIII: Jojolion.

Appearance/Personality
The protagonist is a tall, muscular man who resembles Jotaro Kujo, but his wardrobe consists of what seems to be a sailor suit. In multiple cover pictures of him, his hat has the same hand emblem that Jotaro's hat has. He also has a star-shaped birthmark in his shoulder and (to the astonishment of Yasuho Hirose) four testicles. He also presents diastema. He has an anchor on his shirt that resembles the anchor on the original Josuke's collar. Oddly enough, Yasuho mentions that he bears a resemblance to her dog Josuke.

The protagonist is an amnesiac and as such does not remember his life and personal traits before meeting Yasuho, and sometimes becomes nostalgic about this. He is very serious and a detailed observer, capable of accurately describing the physical characteristics of any object, including its color, length, and measures. He also has a certain nobility as avoiding acting cruelly to people weaker than him. He has a great respect for the feelings of others, forgiving his enemies and understanding their motives, even if it causes him difficulty.

The protagonist also has a childish ignorance of common things, likely a result of his advanced amnesia. For instance, he favors sleeping underneath a whole mattress rather than bedsheets for its "increased compression". Yasuho is able to use his naivety for comic relief.

Who am I?
The protagonist was found buried underground and naked by Yasuho near the Wall Eyes in Morioh. He shows symptoms of amnesia, as he is unable to identify himself or his residence. After a short fight with Joushuu Higashikata, he was sent to a hospital and later escaped using his stand, Soft & Wet. Following the brand of his hat, he and Yasuho visit the shop that the hat was purchased from and from there, they were able to find the name Yoshikage Kira and his address. When they enter the apartment they found a nice and tidy place.

The Mysterious Man
However, they also found a naked girl in the bathroom whom Yasuho assumed was Kira's girlfriend. The girl did not answer at first, glaring at them before Yasuho found a photo album with pictures of tied women. Assuming that this was the protagonist's doing, she becomes disgusted and leaves him.

Trying to find an answer about that room, the protagonist continues to question the naked woman only to be responded with hostility and questions of a speedy rescue, mentioning that he was once in the apartment but had escaped. Soon he learns of a stand user in the upper room who wants to kill both of them. The protagonist finds the user, and after pummeling him into submission, finds out that the real Yoshikage Kira had apparently died long before with his body hidden underneath where the protagonist wad found near the Wall Eyes.

Daiya Higashikata
After the fiasco, he is taken to live with the Higashikata family, under the name Josuke Higashikata. As a new member of the Higashikata family (much to Joushuu's dismay), Josuke is hired to take care of Daiya Higashikata, who suffers from blindness. After helping her make tea, she tells him to "act natural" before having a piece of her leg destroyed, much to Josuke's confusion.

After Yasuho's excavation, he finds himself in the midst of Daiya's stand (which causes memory loss) before feigning being seduced by Daiya (who tries to have sex with him despite their age difference) and getting her to step on his shadow in order to get most of his memories back.

With Daiya's help, he soon finds out what is in the room that he was prohibited from entering, and learns of Yoshikage Kira's distant relation to the Higashikata family through the Joestar family. Yasuho also returns with a DNA result that reveals that the protagonist's and Kira's bodies are a 95.8% match, which seems to conclude that they are the same person.

The Search for Holly Kira
Through further observation, the protagonist learns that Kira's mother, Holly Joestar-Kira is still alive and currently staying at a hospital. On the way, he is confronted  and chased by a motorcyclist in black, which mysteriously causes his GPS to tell him to "go right" several times, putting him in a loop. Josuke is able to defend himself from the biker and even follows up with a drop kick to their face causing the biker's helmet to fly off. Underneath a fish-like head is revealed and Josuke comes to the realization that he is being attacked by an enemy stand, but before he can act, the stand escapes. The stand attacks again later on and Josuke realizes that the GPS is also a stand that is trying to help him to avoid conflict. Josuke ends up illegally entering a nearby home, and stumbles upon a child. While protecting the child, he discovers the enemy stand's ability which appears to be tracking him each time he opens or close something. With the help of the terrified child, inhabitant of the invaded house, he manages to lose the biker and makes his way to the hospital.

Josuke arrives at the hospital, but is unable to go in due to having to open the front door. He decides to wait for someone else to open it, and slowly backs away. He accidentally bumps into a taxi nearby, causing the door to swing open and the biker stand to come driving out. Again, aided by the GPS Stand, Josuke forces the biker to vanish and, upon noticing an odd sound, follows it and finds Nijimura, the Higashikata Family's maid. Nijimura, however, throws a pen with a loose cap at him, causing the biker to materialize when the cap is removed from the pen. Josuke counters this by attacking Nijimura directly with his own stand and causes the stand to vanish once more.



Josuke at first asks Nijimura if she attacked him under the orders of the Higashikata's, but Nijimura reacts distastefully at the mention of the Higashikata's and insists on killing Josuke if he approaches Holly. Josuke, at first, is prepared to fight back Nijimura, but recognizes her intent and resolves to find another way to approach Holly if it will cause her pain. However, as Josuke is about to leave, Nijimura asks him to show his tongue and notes that Josuke has two tongues and four eyes.

Higashikata Secrets
The Next Day, when Josuke sits down at the table for a normal breakfast, he sees Hato arriving in a swimsuit and later Daiya, who appears to be in a swimsuit as well. She explains that the reason they are wearing swimsuits to breakfast is due a failed trip to Hawaii. When Norisuke come along, Josuke asks for his own cell phone, as well as the privilege to go to school. Norisuke agrees, but orders Joushuu to escort him. After a short conversation involving Josuke's advanced skill in Mathematics, Joushuu asks him to walk with him to a different high school as a favor. Josuke and Joushuu travel to the Extortion Road, a street that is known for extorting strangers. There Joushuu planned to videotape some thugs robbing him to use as evidence when reporting to the police.

Extortion Road
Only a short moment after arriving, Josuke had unintentionally broken a turtle tank and killed all the turtles inside. A old man nearby asks Josuke for recompense, which results in Josuke giving him 20,000 yen and a monthly fee until he is able to pay off 330,000 yen. Joushuu had caught the entire event on his camera phone and discovered that Josuke had stepped on the leaves and then teleported to the tank, and back. Josuke, who is still confused, assumes this may be the work of a nearby stand user and uses Soft & Wet to grab the old man by the throat. By doing so, he discovers that the man cannot see the stand, and therefore may not be the stand user. The two continue forward and Josuke asks Joushuu to use his phone in order to record himself the next time he teleports. Josuke is suddenly confronted by three gangster types who had been watching them from afar. One of them accuses Josuke of having made him drop his cell phone into a puddle, and points toward said phone. Josuke watches the recording he made on Joushuu's phone and watches himself suddenly slide backward and then forward again instantly. The thugs offer a proposal that Josuke deliver a package underneath a nearby flower pot to a nearby women in order to repay them for the phone. Josuke has no choice to do so, but not before asking Joushuu a question.



Real Identity
The real name of this character is unknown. The second chapter stated that his name could be Yoshikage Kira, but he later doubts about it, thinking that the enemy in the upper room is the real Kira. It is later revealed that neither he nor the man attacking him is Yoshikage Kira. However, his DNA tests reveals that his body matches Yoshikage Kira, suggesting that there is indeed a special link between the two of them. In chapter 17 it reveals that the protagonist is a fusion of Yoshikage Kira and some one else, which could be a Joestar, due to his star-shaped birthmark.

As he has no known name at this time, he is given the name "Josuke Higashikata" by Norisuke Higashikata IV.

Major Battles

 * Josuke vs Sasame Ojirou
 * Josuke vs Daiya Higashikata
 * Josuke & unnamed GPS stand vs Nijimura & Going Underground

Trivia

 * The first name he is referred to is a throwback reference to Part IV Main Antagonist, Yoshikage Kira. In Chapter 3, when his apartment is visited, other references to the villain can be found, such as a collection of nail clippings. When he is given the name "Josuke Higashikata", his name is written in a different kanji (定助, instead of 仗助) than that of the Part IV protagonist's. Of note is that this name is pronounced the same as Norisuke IV's birth name.
 * The protagonist's amnesia and initial identification with "Yoshikage Kira" draws a parallel to Under Execution Under Jailbreak, in which Kira is shown to be a wandering ghost with no knowledge of his identity or his whereabouts. The shared name with the Part IV protagonist becomes another throwback reference to Part IV.
 * The brand of his hat is SBR, a clear reference to the Steel Ball Run.
 * If his name truly were Yoshikage Kira, then he would be the first main protagonist with the name of a past antagonist. The first main protagonist in the series without the "JoJo" reference is Gyro Zeppeli.
 * His amnesia with regards to his own identity seems to reference Rohan Kishibe's Heaven's Door, which is capable of reading memories of a target that do not also belong to Rohan himself.
 * The Protagonist is set to appear in the upcoming game Jojo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle (PS3 Game) He was announced in the Shonen Jump magazine along with Part 4's Kira
 * The protagonist's All Star Battle VA is the original VA for Noriaki Kakyoin in the original Heritage for the Future.
 * Fans gave him the name Jo2uke or Gappy (in reference to his teeth) so he won't be mixed up with Part 4's Protagonist.
 * There are many indications from the attire and personality that link the new Josuke to Jotaro Kujo. These clues include his hat (New Josuke is protective of it and it bears a plate with a hand on it similar to Jotaro's hat), when fighting Fun Fun Fun he attacks him with a flurry of punches while shouting ORA ORA ORA, and on the third color page he is wearing a shirt with the words "WRRRYYYY" and "ORA ORA ORA". Other similarities include his attire that include marine themes which are a reference to Jotaro's occupation as a Marine Biologist.