Stand

A Stand (スタンド) is a visual manifestation of life energy (in other words, the manifestation of the soul of the user).

Definition
Stands are defined as personifications of "life energy" (although it's later changed to "spiritual energy") whose abilities are given visual form. When first presented, the term is written as "Stand", with to change the pronunciation of what literally means "Ghostly Ripple" (幽波紋) in. According to Joseph Joestar, the name "Stand" comes from the fact they usually manifest standing next to the User: ready to act. Stands can come in many different shapes and sizes, they also have many different abilities (Such as, Stop Time, Erase Time, Control the Weather, etc).



A Stand can also represent the manifestation of an individual's innate "fighting spirit" and embodies, to an extent, the individual's psyche. However, Stands may also derive through the exploration of possibilities and expression of the mind, in which case, only a large amount of mental strength is required. Beyond that definition, Stands present themselves in a large variety of forms and with different behaviors, if they are sentient at all. They follow a loose set of rules, with no definite standard by which one can fully classify them. As an embodiment of someone's psyche, Stands are therefore as varied as human minds can be.

Due to their diversity, Stands are not made equal. Some can be incredibly powerful due to their User's outstanding grit, others can be highly situational because of a defining quirk of character, or even detrimental to their User if they do not have the necessary fighting spirit. When Stands were first introduced in Stardust Crusaders, they were named after the cards of the, and sometimes a color (the color of the Stands body), and then , with their designs often featuring motifs of those cards or mythological figures. Towards the end of Stardust Crusaders and in all subsequent story arcs, Stand names are references to musicians, bands, albums, and songs from American, Australian, British, and European music scenes; only one Stand's name has ever referenced Japanese music.

Stands are connected to an alien virus contained in the rock of a meteorite that fell in Cape York, Greenland. It is explained that the virus can infect people and for the most part kills them, but the few who survive are granted a Stand ability.

Stand Users
The Stand is created from someone's psyche, which includes not only humans but also other living creatures. That individual is referred to as the Stand User. The User then gives their Stand a name and uses it for various purposes.



Unless bound to a specific object or automatic, Stands are attached to their User's body. In that case, any damage the Stand sustains results in an equivalent injury on the User's body and vice-versa. Exceptions to this rule include automatic Stands and bound Stands, which usually do not reflect the damage into the User, or special abilities like Silver Chariot's armor.

Except for rare occasions, when a Stand User dies, their Stand disappears with them. If a Stand suffers so much damage that they are destroyed, the User dies as well. This includes immortal beings, like Vampires. However, a User can survive with their Stand destroyed if the Stand is automatic or depending on the level of the User's injury. Inversely, some Stands can survive beyond their Users through exceptional abilities like Notorious B.I.G.

Since a Stand is the form of its User's psyche, they share an intimate psychic bond. First and foremost, Stands usually obey their Users' command without question. If a User demands it, the Stand will perform any task within its capacities, which includes attacking someone, defending the User, or any miscellaneous order. In the case a Stand is sentient, they can occasionally advise their User that an order is unwise but will carry it on all the same. Stands are also shown to protect their users in certain instances, such as when Jotaro tries to shoot himself, or Weather Report tries to commit suicide,.



However, there are instances when a Stand cannot be controlled by the User. It can be either automatic, like Super Fly, or the User can acquire a Stand, but not have the fighting spirit to control it, like Holy Kujo. In both cases, a Stand can accidentally work against its user's interests through their unsupervised power. However, specifically in the second case, a Stand can go out of control and slowly kill its User like a disease. According to Muhammad Avdol, the User becomes ill, then falls into a coma only to never wake up again; moreover, such occurrences are common enough for him to claim having witnessed many people succumbing to this.

One of the defining rules about Stands is that someone may only have one Stand (at a time). Although Stands may take different forms, or be split into several entities, no one is able to summon several Stands at once. Although exceptional circumstances may lead to someone wielding several Stands, only one will be the User's real Stand. A Stand generally remains attached to its User, but it can sometimes change Users. For instance, it can be stolen from its original User, or if the Stand's ability involves changing User. Thanks to Whitesnake's DISCs, a Stand can change Users but will act to protect its new User instead. Other Stands, like Anubis or Cheap Trick, will actively try to change Users, and their malevolent nature makes them harm their Users instead of protecting them.

Occasionally, a Stand can utter a Stand Cry, shouting repeatedly while delivering a beatdown or displaying it's ability.

Appearance


Stands present themselves in a wide variety of forms. Some adopt a humanoid form, others, the appearance of an object or a tool. These Stands all share an inability to be viewed by ordinary humans, unless bound to physical objects. In addition, some Stands can simply be devoid of appearance, simply manifesting themselves as a special power. Stand users and/or Stands may emit a Stand aura which varies in color depending on the user.

Stands can be divided into 5 trends based on their appearance. Most of the Stands have features from two or more categories.



A Stand's appearance is not set in stone. Stands change appearance as their Users age. As seen with Jean Pierre Polnareff's Silver Chariot or Jobin Higashikata's Speed King, young Stand Users have typically childlike Stands and when they become adults, the Stands' features also become adult-like. A special category of Stands that can evolve into different forms or ACTs, is also able to change form and therefore appearance. Finally, a Stand pierced by the Bow and Arrow can evolve into a brand new form called a Requiem Stand.

When a Stand is injured, they may either bleed like an organic being or crumble into small pieces like a statue.

Behavior
Most Stands display no personality, sometimes because they do not have a form with which to emote, but the majority of humanoid Stands simply hover behind and above the user awaiting a command. Some Stands display bits of personalities through facial expressions, but it is ambiguous whether the emotions come from the Stand or simply reflect the User's state of mind.

For unknown reasons, a handful of Stands do have a separate consciousness from their Users. They are sentient and can converse with their Users whenever they are summoned. Although they display a variety of personalities, most still obey their Users to the letter. Examples of such Stands include Echoes Act 3, Spice Girl, and Whitesnake. Rarely, these Stands are uncontrollable and have no true master, and instead, move from host to host and actively seek to harm their "user" with their powers. Anubis and Cheap Trick are examples of such Stands.

Whenever a Stand talks, their otherworldly nature is indicated in the original manga material as a text written with. In the case of audiovisual media such as the anime or a video game, a Stand's voice will possess a ghostly echo and mechanical tone.

Abilities
Each Stand possesses supernatural properties as well as a special, unique power, indirectly granting its User superhuman abilities:




 * In general, a Stand is invisible to normal humans, yet can interact with normal objects. It allows the User to use their Stand unnoticed by a large majority of the population. The mundane use of a Stand has been likened to a poltergeist phenomenon by normal people. Even a Stand's power is invisible for ordinary humans; for instance, normal people cannot see Magician's Red's flames but can feel its heat.
 * A Stand is invulnerable to any harm except against another Stand or if their Stand User is harmed, as stand damage and user damage are linked, and one will be hurt in the same way as the other with few exceptions. Stand powers like healing or aging affect both stand user and stand itself.
 * Stands possess intangibility. It is uncommon but not unheard of for Stand Users to channel their Stands inside their bodies to protect themselves, using their Stand's superhuman durability to their advantage. It is even more uncommon for Stands to phase through objects, but the possibility exists. The only stands, however, to do so were Star Platinum, Diver Down, and Whitesnake.
 * As psychic projections, Users can also communicate through their Stands. Barring rare exceptions, a Stand User typically shares their consciousness with their Stand and is able to see through its eyes. Moreover, a Stand User can also speak through their Stand, enabling a form of distant communication. However, the Stand must have a mouth or otherwise be able to speak to do so. Notable examples include Star Platinum, Death Thirteen, Red Hot Chili Pepper, Highway Star and King Crimson. Gold Experience Requiem, however, is able to do the same but only when its ability is used.
 * Users possess the ability to shrink their Stands to a microscopic level, Polnareff indicated that it was difficult to manipulate the Stand at such a subtle level and that it was taxing to maintain the small size, it also weakened his Stand to the point where it could take heavy damage by lovers, making that property impractical in most cases.
 * Stand users are able to see ghosts, due to the fact that their Stands are technically ghosts as well, albeit generated into existence by their wielder's vital energy.

Stand Power
Each Stand possesses an esoteric and unique power that defines it and sets it apart from other Stands.



A Stand's power can wildly vary between Stands. The nature of the power can range from relatively mundane powers such as using a sword or controlling flames to extremely powerful ones such as the ability to manipulate the flow of time. These powers have many different subtleties, such as a limited range or a special way of manifesting themselves, that can be exploited during a fight. For instance, Sticky Fingers can create zippers on any surface, but it has to hit an object with its hand to be able to create them. It is up to the User to know how to protect themselves or use their enemy's weakness to their advantage.

The User is sometimes immune, or protected to a degree against the power of their Stand. For instance, Prosciutto can stay young despite his The Grateful Dead aging everyone around it. However, the reverse is just as widespread, as Stand Users like Pannacotta Fugo with Purple Haze's virus, and Muhammad Avdol and Magician's Red's flames are stated to be just as vulnerable.

In rare cases, Stands can have the same abilities. Usually, siblings like the D'Arby Brothers or two rats can roughly have the same power.

Barring rare exceptions, if the Stand is destroyed or the User is knocked out, the Stand's power immediately disappears and any ability related modification/modifications to the environment due to it's power is reversed.

Each Stand is unique, but many share enough characteristics that they may be grouped under specific Stand Types. Very uncommon special stands may appear in the story from time to time due to exceptional circumstances.

Firing Range
One of the most important features of a Stand is its range. Stands in principle can only be used within a predetermined range centering around the Stand's owner. As such, for the sake of convenience, the range that a Stand can perform abilities is referred to as "Firing Range." A Stand's range and power are inversely proportional; the further the Stand moves away from its firing range, the weaker and less subtle it becomes. This principle is applied to almost all Stands. Furthermore, this can be construed more specifically as "effective firing range", as a Stand will only gradually lose effectiveness the further it deviates from its firing range, rather than just relinquish immediately. The Stand range is effectively just the range where it can optimally perform.

From a general point of view, all Stands can be roughly divided into two types: "Short distance", and "long distance". As a trend, short-range types display great power, many of which excel at direct blows or destruction (Star Platinum, Killer Queen, Sticky Fingers, etc.), and are often referred to as "Power Types". Long-range types typically have a special ability that can let them indirectly attack. (Lovers, Echoes Act 1, Talking Head, etc.)

Some long-distance types are referred to as "Auto Pilot", in which the "power vs distance from user" principle does not apply (Sheer Heart Attack, Black Sabbath). This is exactly what is touched upon in the third Stand theorem, in that autopilot types are typically an extension of an "effect" that results in a Stand triggering. As such, these Stands are independent of the Stand User's will and mental strength, and their power does not drop as a result. As a related note, certain Stand abilities do not have specified ranges (Earth Wind and Fire), an example being time-based powers, such as The World or King Crimson.

Stand Parameters
Stand Parameters (スタンドパラメータ), or Stand Statistics are six statistics used outside of the story to gauge a Stand's capabilities. They are in order (clockwise from top): Destructive Power, Speed, Range, Persistence, Precision, and Developmental Potential.
 * Destructive Power (破壊力): Measures the Stand's strength and ability to cause destruction (physical injury or collateral environmental damage) in a given period of time. Close-Range Stands such as Star Platinum, The World, Crazy Diamond, Killer Queen, Gold Experience and Stone Free will typically boast high destructive power (Rank C or higher). There are also cases like C-Moon, where destructive power is low or not applicable, despite having fairly destructive abilities.
 * Speed (スピード): Measures the Stand's agility and reflexes as well as performance speed. This is also typically evaluated fairly high for Close-range Stands. Sometimes it can be strengthened through training, such as with Stands like Silver Chariot. This stat can also sometimes refer to a Stand's effect's speed of occurrence. For example, Whitesnake's D in speed refers to the speed at which its 'Melt your heart' ability dissolves its victims.
 * Range (射程距離): Measures a compromise of the Stand's range of manifestation, range of ability influence, and spatial mobility. In most cases it is inversely proportional to destructive power. However, there are cases where both power and range are excellent, such as Red Hot Chili Pepper and Weather Report. In addition, a Stand's range may decrease due to evolution, such as with Echoes and Made in Heaven.
 * Persistence (持続力): Measures the duration of time that the Stand can actively maintain its ability. It can also be used in the sense of the time it takes before a special ability can be activated again, such as Star Platinum: The World's time stop.
 * Precision (精密動作性): Measures the Stand's accuracy and range of influence/effect of their abilities to specified targets. Automatic type Stands are generally evaluated with Rank D or under with a few exceptions.
 * Development Potential (成長性): Measures the Stand's possible functions, utilization of its abilities and powers, and capacity to improve its overall capabilities. It decreases in rank as the user masters their Stand. For example, Jotaro Kujo's Star Platinum is Rank A in Developmental Potential during Stardust Crusaders, but is given Rank C during Stone Ocean, as Jotaro has had many years to hone Star Platinum's power. However, Rank C implies that all of Star Platinum's possible abilities and functions still had not been discovered or figured out by that time. For a Stand to gain an E-Ranking, it means that either their Stand user discovered all of their Stand's abilities or the Stand came with very few abilities and thus cannot grow any more than it has. Stands such as Green Day and Notorious B.I.G, with infinitely increasing abilities, will be evaluated very high in this parameter.

Each statistic is ranked from A to E; though rankings of None and Infinite are also possible. If a rank is Unknown, it will show a question mark (?); this is usually because the Stand or its full capabilities have not yet been revealed in the storyline, such as with Gold Experience Requiem. Rankings are defined as follows:
 * A: Excellent (超スゴイ)
 * B: Good (スゴイ)
 * C: Comparable to a Human (人間と同じ)
 * D: Weak (ニガテ)
 * E: Very Weak (超ニガテ)

They are first seen in the artbook JOJO A-GO!GO!, later in canon from Vento Aureo onward as Stands are shown with their parameters along with their name and ability description. Because of the nature of these rankings, they can be quite inconsistent, such as how Kiss and Star Platinum both have an A in destructive power, while Star Platinum is much stronger. Steel Ball Run and JoJolion do not display parameters, but Stands introduced during these arcs are given them in artbooks.

Trivia

 * The concept of Stands were inspired by the 'guardian spirit' from Jiro Tsunoda's Ushiro no Hyakutarō manga.
 * Araki explains that Stand abilities are often the first element he thinks of when he creates a character, and that he then develops the character's personality and appearance based on the harmony with said Stand power.
 * Starting from Part 3 to Part 6, the name of each Stand that is used by the main protagonists are referring to their own representative sub-titles (e.g. Star Platinum, Stand of Jotaro Kujo from Stardust Crusaders, Crazy Diamond, Stand of Josuke Higashikata from Diamond is Unbreakable, Gold Experience, Stand of Giorno Giovanna from Golden Wind or Stone Free, Stand of Jolyne Cujoh from Stone Ocean
 * All of these names come from materials.
 * Throughout the majority of Part 3, Stands were named after Tarot cards often followed by another element such as a colour or a number, such as Hierophant Green and Death 13. Starting with Cream late into Part 3 (and later standardized in Part 4), stands were named after bands, musicians, albums, and songs. Like characters named after musical acts, these Stand names have historically been the subject of renaming in English localization of JoJo material, so as to avoid trademark infringement. These altered names have become a common point of chagrin and humor among JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fans within the Anglosphere, most notably the renaming of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap to "Filthy Acts at a Reasonable Price".


 * While in the original universe Stand was written as 幽波紋, in Steel Ball Run, 立ち向かうもの was briefly used by Mountain Tim, which literally means "the thing that confronts".


 * Currently, Stands that don't have an anime version of their Stand parameters are Tenore Sax, Love Deluxe, Echoes (ACT 2), Achtung Baby, Ratt, and Boy II Man.